Editor's note: Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for CGTN, China Daily and Global Times. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Lo and behold, a white officer wearing a cowboy hat on horseback is wielding his whip at a ragged and bare-handed man's head. This is not some Civil-War-era movie set where a slave owner is herding his slaves-like animals. Instead, this is what has happened on September 20, 2021 at U.S.-Mexico borders where a U.S. federal border guard was expelling a Haitian migrant.

Since last week, over 10,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, which was struck by frequent earthquakes, COVID-19 pandemic and political upheavals, have been assembling and encamping under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, and crossing back and forth between Mexico and the U.S. to sustain their lives.

Without offering any temporary humanitarian assistance, the U.S. government reacted quickly to "dump" the liabilities by arranging flights repatriating the "uninvited guests" back to their home country, or more precisely, back to imminent humanitarian disaster and the verge of death. The prospect of deportations weighed heavily on the migrants who risked their lives traversing continents over months to reach their "dreamland" and were met with nothing but whipping in the face.

A whip on the migrant is an embarrassment on the United States. For a man of moral conscience, such inhumane treatment defies both common sense and basic human decency. "Promising" commitments made by Joe Biden during his presidential campaign, such as reasserting America's commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees, tackling the root causes of irregular migration and implementing effective border screening, are being shredded right before public eyes.

On taking office, Biden has begun reversing many of his predecessor's hardline immigration policies. In May, the administration extended temporary protected status for the 150,000 Haitians already living in the country, which was interpreted by many as a sign that the U.S. would be more welcoming to migrants. Widespread misinformation and high-profile political stunt have created a false sense of hope.

Notoriously fickle U.S. immigration policies have left many desperate refugees living in constant angst and fear. They bet their families and lives on the United States' unpredictable caprices and moods.

Video clips from the Associated Press showed that Haitian migrants who were forced to return to Haiti climbed back on the U.S. flight's wings and tires, echoing the tragic scene in Kabul airport where three Afghans fell off the U.S. aircraft in the air just a month ago.

Let's not forget that it was the U.S. that invaded Haiti in 1915 and occupied the sovereign country for nearly two decades, orchestrating puppet governments, controlling economic arteries, executing dissidents and instigating a forced labor system. Haitian historian Roger Gaillard estimated that at least 15,000 Haitians were killed throughout the U.S. occupation period.

The legacy of the U.S. occupation and the meddling of colonial powers essentially bankrupted Haiti and relegated many of its people to decades of poverty, creating a cycle of deprivation and instability that continues till this day.

The "Haiti Syndrome" has also spread to many other developing countries which were forced to install U.S. self-acclaimed exemplary democratic institutions, resulting in one failed state after another.   

It is galling that the U.S. is now abusing and turning away the Haitians on the pretext of border security and shirking all its responsibilities. The U.S. owes too much historical debt to the Haitians.

How many tragedies does the U.S. wish to add to its already stained human rights record? How long can the U.S. sustain its "hymocracy" that continues to plague other countries?

If the U.S. does not refrain from prioritizing "human white" under the cloak of human rights and start to reflect on its past sins, the dimming beacon of democracy will surely shatter in pieces.  

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)