Migrants cleared from Texas camp
No migrants remained Friday at the Texas border encampment where almost 15,000 people – most of them Haitians – had converged just days earlier seeking asylum, local and federal officials said.
It’s a dramatic change from a week ago, when the number peaked as migrants driven by confusion over the Biden administration’s policies and misinformation on social media converged at the border crossing connecting Del Rio, Texas, and Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.
Many face expulsion because they are not covered by protections recently extended by the Biden administration to the more than 100,000 Haitian migrants already in the U.S., citing security concerns and social unrest in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. The devastating 2020 earthquake forced many of them from their homeland.
The United States and Mexico appeared eager to end the increasingly politicized humanitarian situation that prompted the resignation of the U.S. special envoy to Haiti and widespread outrage after images emerged of border agents maneuvering their horses to forcibly block and move migrants.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that the U.S. has allowed about 12,400 to enter the country, at least temporarily, while they make claims before an immigration judge to stay in the country under the asylum laws or for some other legal reason. They could ultimately be denied and would be subject to removal.
Homeland Security officials also said that about 2,000 Haitians were expelled on flights during the week, with more flights scheduled to Haiti through the weekend.