DHS investigating Border Patrol 'challenge coin' showing horseback agents accosting Haitian migrants
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is investigating a "challenge coin" that depicts white Border Patrol agents on horseback appearing to use their reins as whips to drive back Haitian immigrants seeking asylum in Del Rio, Texas, last September, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday. "Images of the incident led to a public outcry and national scandal." President Biden demanded accountability and the Department of Homeland Security launched an investigation into the treatment of migrants in Del Rio.
The unofficial U.S. Border Patrol "challenge coin," a token of memorabilia, is inscribed with the words "Reining It In Since May 28, 1924" and "Yesterday's Border Is Not Today's Border" on one side, and "You will be returned" on the rim, the Herald reports. The side with the infamous whip image reads: "Honor Will Always Be First."
"The images depicted on this coin are offensive, insensitive, and run counter to the core values of CBP," CPB assistance commissioner Luis Miranda told the Herald. "This is not an official CBP coin."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The CPB's Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating who minted the coins, and any agents found to be selling them will face "appropriate action," Miranda said. It isn't clear how many coins were made, but at least 41 were recently sold on Ebay for $15.19 apiece.
The date on on the unofficial challenge coin marks the enactment of the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act, which founded the U.S. Border Patrol — and also "drastically cut the total number of immigrants allowed in each year and effectively cut off all immigration from Asia," marking the "start of a dark chapter in the nation's immigration history," Smithsonian Magazine reports.
The level of disrespect for Haitians the coin represents is "unprecedented, outrageous, and intolerable," Marleine Bastien, a longtime Haitian and immigration advocate in Miami, tells the Herald. "President Biden promised to get to the bottom of this, but there was not any action or repercussions," and "now the Border Patrol is so emboldened that they are making a mockery of the suffering of Black refugees. They are so proud of their criminal behavior that they immortalized it with a coin."
The agents who chased the Haitians on horseback have been reassigned and barred from interacting with migrants, and "multiple" agents involved in the incident will be charged with civil "administrative violations" in the coming days, Fox News reports, citing a federal source.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Video game performers to strike over AI concerns
Speed Read SAG-AFTRA members are unhappy with gaming production companies
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - July 26, 2024
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - campaign donations, yellow buses, and more
By The Week US Published
-
California orders mass dismantling of unhoused people's camps
Speed Read Gavin Newsom's move follows a Supreme Court ruling last month in favor of an Oregon city that ticketed people for sleeping outside
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Netanyahu makes controversial address
Speed Reads Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress denounced Gaza war protestors
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Menendez convicted of bribery, fraud, and extortion
Speed Read The New Jersey Democratic Senator was found guilty in a federal corruption trial
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Florida judge dismisses Trump documents case
Speed Read Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Hamas says military chief survived Israeli strike
Speed Read An Israeli bombing failed to hit its intended target, military commander Mohammed Deif, but killed at least 90 Palestinians
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
First Israeli report on Oct. 7 finds 'severe mistakes and errors' in IDF response
Speed Reads Israeli military admits failures in response to deadly Hamas attack that triggered Gaza war
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden saw neurologist during physicals
Speed Read Following his bad debate performance, many are asking questions about the president's brain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published