President Joe Biden on Friday addressed videos taken from the U.S.-Mexico border this week that showed mounted federal agents aggressively pushing migrants back.
"It's outrageous. I promise you those people will pay," Biden said Friday. "There is an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences."
Biden was also asked by reporters if he took responsibility for the incidents.
"Of course I take responsibility. I'm president," Biden said.
Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security said it was investigating the videos, which showed mounted agents charging at migrants and thrashing at them with leather reigns.
"Any mistreatment or abuse of a migrant is unacceptable, is against Border Patrol policy, training and our department's values," DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas said earlier this week.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also spoken out about the videos.
"Human beings should never be treated that way, and I'm deeply troubled about it," she said.
The incidents occurred at makeshift camps on the U.S.-Mexico border near Del Rio, Texas, on the banks of the Rio Grande. The camps are made up mostly of Haitian migrants who were fleeing their earthquake and storm-ravaged country. The migrants are also fleeing systemic poverty and gang violence in the country.
At its peak, the Associated Press reports that about 15,000 migrants were living in the camps. This week, the Biden administration took steps to thin the crowds by admitting some 3,200 people in the U.S. with notices to appear before an immigration judge within 60 days. Another 1,000+ migrants were put on airplanes and flown back to Haiti, and others returned to Mexico.
As of Thursday, the Associated Press reports that about 4,000 people remained at the camps. The White House says the migrants are being provided with food and medical care should they need it.
