TEXAS BORDER CROSSING NEAR CAMPSITE REOPENS

The Texas border crossing where thousands of Haitian migrants converged in recent weeks partially reopened late Saturday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

Federal and local officials said no migrants remained at the makeshift encampment as of Friday, after some of the nearly 15,000 people were expelled from the country and many others were allowed to remain in the U.S., at least temporarily, as they try to seek asylum.

In a statement, officials said trade and travel operations would resume at the Del Rio Port of Entry for passenger traffic at 4 p.m. Saturday. It will be reopened for cargo traffic on Monday morning.

CBP temporarily closed the border crossing between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, on Sept. 17 after the migrants suddenly crossed into Del Rio and made camp around the U.S. side of the border bridge.

CBP agents on Saturday searched the brush along the Rio Grande to ensure that no one was hiding near the site. Bruno Lozano, the mayor of Del Rio, said officials also wanted to be sure no other large groups of migrants were making their way to the Del Rio area to try to set up a similar camp.

The Department of Homeland Security planned to continue flights to Haiti throughout the weekend, ignoring criticism from Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups who say Haitian migrants are being sent back to a troubled country that some left more than a decade ago.

The number of people at the Del Rio encampment peaked Sept. 18 as migrants driven by confusion over the Biden administration’s policies and misinformation on social media converged at the border crossing.

The U.S. and Mexico worked swiftly, appearing eager to end the 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.

Many migrants 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.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday about 2,000 Haitians had been rapidly expelled on 17 flights since Sept. 19 and more could be expelled in coming days under pandemic powers that deny people the chance to seek asylum.

The Trump administration enacted the policy, called Title 42, in March 2020 to justify restrictive immigration policies in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Biden administration has used it to justify the deportation of Haitian migrants.

A federal judge late last week ruled that the rule was improper, but the Biden administration appealed.