The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday it has temporarily suspended the use of horse patrols in Del Rio, Texas, days after viral images of Border Patrol agents using aggressive tactics against Haitian migrants there fueled a backlash.

The Biden administration has faced bipartisan criticism since more than 14,000 people, mostly Haitians, set up a tent camp around a bridge in Del Rio, a border town that sits on the Rio Grande. 

Striking video from last weekend of agents maneuvering their horses to forcibly block and move migrants attempting to cross the border sparked resounding criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are calling on the Biden administration to end its use of a pandemic-era authority to deport migrants without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum in the United States.

The White House called the actions “horrific,” and the Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Thursday that the horse patrols have been halted.  

“The secretary also conveyed to civil rights leaders earlier this morning that we would no longer be using horses in Del Rio,” Psaki told reporters at a briefing Thursday. “That is a policy change that has been made in response.”

The number of migrants at the Texas camp have been reduced to around 4,000, DHS officials said Thursday, after authorities ramped up efforts in the last day or so to remove migrants.

Officials said about 1,400 people had been expelled to Haiti and 3,200 transferred to other Border Patrol sectors to be processed either for expulsion or potential release, while several thousand have returned to Mexico. They also said the DHS is working with other countries to take some Haitians.

On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas faced tough questions from House Homeland Security Committee members from both parties. 

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., blasted the actions of the mounted units along the border.

“The images that I saw with regard to what was happening with Border Patrol employees whipping — I don’t care if it was your belt, your reins or what, but whipping Haitians is unconscionable, unacceptable and un-American," she said.

Rep. John Katko of New York, the committee’s ranking Republican, said the situation at the southern border is “absolutely out of control.”

“You and the administration have repeatedly referred to this border situation as a quote-unquote rebuild. … Is rebuilding the border having an unprecedented level of aliens seized at the border over the last six months? … Is rebuilding the border releasing many individuals, tens of thousands, into our communities without vaccinations for COVID?” asked Katko, who also argued that gaps in border security are allowing drugs, terrorists and other criminals to flow into the U.S.

Mayorkas said DHS is addressing security at the border while enforcing both immigration and humanitarian laws. 

The Homeland Security secretary said he, too, is concerned about the actions of the Border Patrol agents and that an undisclosed number of them have been placed on administrative duty as the DHS Office of Professional Responsibility investigates.

"I want to assure you that we are addressing this,” Mayorkas said. “The facts will drive the action we take.

"It will be completed in days – not weeks," he added.

Adding to the chorus of criticism the Biden administration is hearing, U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote submitted a letter of resignation Wednesday protesting the “inhumane” large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.