Biden under fire for ‘chaos’ over Haitian migrant crisis
‘The Biden government is in complete disarray and is handling the border crisis as badly as the evacuation from Afghanistan’
THE US has dispatched 1,000 lawenforcement officials to deal with high numbers of Haitian migrants who have crossed the border from Mexico, and increased deportation flights in a bid to tackle the crisis.
Border patrol, police officers and members of the army have been sent to Del Rio, Texas, where 16,000 people have arrived illegally in the past week.
Joe Biden, the US president, is facing criticism for allowing another humanitarian crisis on the southern border, with the migrants living in a squalid camp under a bridge by the Rio Grande.
Yesterday, The Daily Telegraph saw convoys of dozens of vehicles, including buses, heading down the dusty track towards the camp, as officials scrambled to manage the influx of people to this usually quiet border city of 35,000 people.
“It has taken us all by surprise,” said one official at the site, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“It is more organised than we could have ever imagined. There is some sort of leadership structure, and no doubt there is a lot of money being made.”
Two soldiers holding M4 carbines guarded the entrance to the camp area, sheltering from the 98F (37C) heat beside their sand-coloured Humvee.
Beyond them, clusters of men and women could be seen erecting shelters using broken branches.
Some have been returning to Mexico to fetch supplies, then walking back across the river to reach the camp.
At least two women have given birth on site in the last few days. “There is urine, faeces and we are sleeping next to garbage,” said Michael Vargas, 30, who has been at the camp with his wife and two children for three days.
Bruno Lozano, the Democratic mayor of Del Rio, hit out at Kamala Harris, the US vice-president, who is also a Democrat, who has been tasked with handling the border situation. On Saturday, she attended an American university football match to do the coin toss.
“The VP is able to visit the fun events, while American communities [grapple] with failed immigration reform. Where is the visit to Del Rio, TX?” he asked.
Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, said: “The Biden administration is in complete disarray and is handling the border crisis as badly as the evacuation from Afghanistan.”
At the camp, Mr Vargas said his family had been given ticket number 16,000 and authorities were currently processing number 9,800. He said people were being separated into three groups: single men, single women and families.
Yesterday, US officials blocked the route which migrants have been taking across the Rio Grande.
Around a dozen Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles lined up near the bridge and river where Haitians have been crossing from Ciudad Acuña.
Yellow police tape is being used to block them from using a small dam to walk into the US.