"I thought one of us was going to die," says WD, a 24-year-old Haitian, remembering what he experienced on September 12, 2021 under a bridge that connects Mexico with Del Rio, Texas, along with hundreds of compatriots. who had been traveling north to the United States for months.
The port of entry was closed, and they had to throw themselves into the Rio Grande with their few possessions: bags of food, water, documents, a phone.
On the other side, Border Patrol agents were waiting for them, mounted on horseback, armed and with long reins that beat in the air to prevent the passage of people.
“It was like a game” in which they were running for their lives
, describes WD, who asked to be identified only by his initials because, he says, he fears for his safety.
When Haitian migrants crossed, mounted American officers held them back with the reins of horses.
When they returned to Mexican territory they ran into the police of that country.
That day, WD tried it seven times, back and forth, until
he managed to set foot on American soil, with bruised feet
.
He also assures that in the midst of the chaos, he saw how the "ropes" of the horsemen reached another migrant.
“It was like a slave movie.
They threw their ropes at us as if we were animals, they did not treat us like people, ”he says in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.
What WD experienced was not a one day thing.
A similar scene was captured by photographer Paul Ratje on September 19, when the media had turned to that point on the border following the news that thousands of Haitians were trying to enter the country.
The images of border agents charging immigrants unleashed an international scandal and the treatment of these people was described by Vice President Kamala Harris as "horrible".