Immigration

US to fly Haitian migrants back after thousands gather at Texas border


The Biden administration plans the wide-scale expulsion of Haitian migrants from a small Texas border city by putting them on flights back to their earthquake-hit country starting on Sunday, an official said on Friday, previewing a swift and dramatic response to thousands who suddenly crossed the border from Mexico and gathered under and around a bridge.

Details are yet to be finalized but will likely involve five to eight flights a day, according to the official. San Antonio may be among the departure cities.

Another official expected two flights a day at most and said all migrants would be tested for Covid-19.

US authorities closed traffic to vehicles and pedestrians in both directions at the only border crossing in Del Rio after chaos unfolded on Friday.

Customs and Border Protection said it was closing the border crossing with Ciudad Acuna, Mexico “to respond to urgent safety and security needs”. Travelers were being directed to Eagle Pass, 57 miles away.

Haitians crossed the Rio Grande and in a steady stream, going back and forth between the US and Mexico through knee-deep water, some carrying children on their shoulders. Unable to buy supplies in the US, they returned briefly to Mexico for food and cardboard to settle, temporarily at least, under or near the bridge in Del Rio, a city of 35,000 that has been severely strained by migrant flows in recent months.

Migrants pitched tents and built makeshift shelters from giant reeds known as carrizo cane. Many bathed and washed clothing in the river.

The vast majority of the migrants at the bridge were Haitian, said Val Verde county judge Lewis Owens. Some families have been under the bridge for as long as six days.

Trash piles were 10ft wide, and at least two women have given birth, including one who tested positive for Covid-19 after being taken to a hospital, Owens said.

Val Verde county sheriff Frank Joe Martinez estimated the crowd at 13,700 and said more Haitians were traveling through Mexico by bus.

The flight plan hinges on how Haitians respond. They may face a choice: stay put at the risk of being sent back to their impoverished homeland or return to Mexico. Unaccompanied children are exempt from fast-track expulsions.

About 500 Haitians were ordered off buses by Mexican authorities in the state of Tamaulipas, about 120 miles south of the Texas border, the state government said. They continued toward the border on foot.

Haitians have been migrating to the US in large numbers for several years. After jobs dried up from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, many made the trek by foot, bus and car, including through the infamous Darien Gap, a Panamanian jungle.

The US Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

“We will address it accordingly,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on MSNBC.

An administration official, who was not authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the action is not targeting Haitians specifically and does not reflect a policy shift, just a continuation of normal practices.

The Federal Aviation Administration, acting on a Border Patrol request, restricted drone flights around the bridge until 30 September, generally barring operations at or below 1,000ft unless for security or law enforcement purposes.

Texas governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, said federal officials told him migrants under the bridge would be moved by the defense department to Arizona, California and elsewhere on the Texas border.

Nicole Phillips, legal director for advocacy group Haitian Bridge Alliance, said a sense of desperation spread after the Biden administration ended its practice of admitting asylum-seeking migrants daily who were deemed especially vulnerable.

“People are panicking on how they seek refuge,” Phillips said.

US authorities are being severely tested after Biden dismantled Trump administration policies he considered cruel or inhumane, most notably one requiring asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while waiting for US immigration court hearings.

The US supreme court last month let stand a judge’s order to reinstate the policy, though Mexico must agree to its terms. The US justice department said in a court filing this week that discussions with the Mexican government were ongoing.



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