Border Patrol agents on horseback used "unnecessary" force against Haitian migrants last year, investigators find

U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback used "unnecessary" force and violated agency policy when they aggressively dispersed Haitian migrants seeking to deliver food to their families near Del Rio, Texas, last September, a months-long Customs and Border Protection (CBP) investigation found.

As a result of the investigation, four Border Patrol agents have been notified that they face disciplinary measures, according to senior CBP officials, who declined to talk about what those measures entail, citing an ongoing internal review and appeals process. 

The probe concluded that miscommunication prompted a Border Patrol supervisor to authorize a horse patrol unit to help Texas officials stop migrants from entering the U.S. through the Rio Grande, despite CBP's policy at the time of allowing migrants to retrieve supplies in Mexico and return to Texas across the river, the senior agency officials said during a call with reporters.