For most of America’s history, the mistreatment of Black people has always been up for debate. The United States government proves yet again that its treatment of Black migrants is inhumane and that the only lives that matter are those from predominantly white countries.

Images spreading across social media of U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback grabbing and hunting down Haitian migrants crossing the Rio Grande to try to reach the United States have brought about rightful anger among Americans.

The Department of Homeland Security tweeted that it reviewed the footage from the border and is taking the allegations of abuse against the Haitian migrants “very seriously.”

“The footage is extremely troubling, and the facts learned from the full investigation, which will be conducted swiftly, will define the appropriate disciplinary actions to be taken,” the Department of Homeland Security said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also commented on the current situation at the border, but her remarks were disappointing and out of touch.

“I have seen some of the footage. I don’t have the full context. I can’t imagine what context would make that appropriate” Psaki said. “But I don’t have additional details and certainly I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate.”

While it is condemnable that theU.S. government has spoken about the migrant crisis, America’s history of mistreatment of immigrants, particularly Black migrants, makes the remarks distrustful.

Psaki stating that she did not know the “context” of the photos is a terrible choice of words to use. There is no correct context for seeing people on horseback terrorize migrants who are escaping similar or worse treatments in their native countries.

The pictures of the Haitian migrant crisis spreading across the internet are reminiscent of slavery, a comparison that even Vice President Kamala Harris took note of, according to The Los Angles Ttimes.

Another instance of America’s mistreatment of Black and Latino migrants was when former President Donald Trump described Haiti, the center of this recent crisis, El Salvador and other African nations as “Sh—hole countries.”

It was one thing when a Make America Great Again supporter or a conservative pundit on a major cable network spouts anti-immigration rhetoric but when it originates from the leader of the supposedly “free world,” it hits differently.

The poem that can be found on New York’s Statue of Liberty asks other countries in the world to give us “your tired, your poor and your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” But it seems that the message has gotten lost.