From News Nation:
“US begins flying Haitian
migrants home from Texas
Some of the thousands of Haitian
migrants who crossed from Mexico into a Texas border camp were flown back to
their poverty-stricken homeland Sunday by the United States in an effort to
deter others from crossing into the country. A U.S. official told The
Associated Press that three flights departed San Antonio for Port-au-Prince and
would arrive in the afternoon. The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because the person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Many
of the migrants have lived in Latin America for years but now are seeking
asylum in the U.S. as economic opportunities in Brazil and elsewhere dry up.
Thousands have been living under and near a bridge in the Texas border city of
Del Rio, and many of them said they will not be deterred by the U.S. plans. “In
Haiti, there is no security,” said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who
arrived in Texas with his wife and two daughters. “The country is in a
political crisis.” Scores of people waded back and forth across the Rio
Grande on Saturday, re-entering Mexico to purchase water, food and diapers in
Ciudad Acuña before returning to the Texas encampment. Junior Jean, a
32-year-old man from Haiti, watched as people cautiously carried cases of water
or bags of food through the knee-high river water. Jean said he lived on the
streets in Chile for the past four years, resigned to searching for food in
garbage cans. “We are all looking for a better life,” he said.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel
Henry wrote Sunday on Twitter that he is concerned about conditions at the
border camp and that the migrants would be welcomed back. “We want to reassure
them that measures have already been taken to give them a better welcome upon
their return to the country and that they will not be left behind,” he tweeted.
Henry did not provide details about the measures. A Haitian government
spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment. A Haitian political
leader questioned Sunday whether the nation could handle an influx of returning
migrants and said the government should stop the repatriation. “We have the
situation in the south with the earthquake. The economy is a disaster, (and)
there are no jobs,” Election Minister Mathias Pierre said, adding that most
Haitians can’t satisfy basic needs. “The prime minister should negotiate with
the U.S. government to stop those deportations in this moment of crises.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland
Security said Saturday that it moved about 2,000 migrants from the camp to
other locations Friday for processing and possible removal. A statement from
the agency also said it would have 400 agents and officers in the area by
Monday morning and would send more if necessary. The announcement marked a
swift response to the sudden arrival of Haitians in Del Rio, a Texas city of
about 35,000 people roughly 145 miles west of San Antonio. It sits on a
relatively remote stretch of border that lacks the capacity to hold and process
such large numbers of people. Haitians have been migrating to the U.S. in large
numbers from South America for several years, many having left their Caribbean
nation after a devastating 2010 earthquake. After jobs dried up from the 2016
Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, many made the dangerous trek by foot, bus
and car to the U.S. border, including through the infamous Darien Gap, a
Panamanian jungle. U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed off vehicle and
pedestrian traffic in both directions Friday at the only border crossing
between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña “to respond to urgent safety and security
needs,” and it remained closed Saturday. Travelers were being directed
indefinitely to a crossing in Eagle Pass, roughly 55 miles away.
Crowd estimates varied, but Del
Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano said Saturday evening there were more than 14,500 immigrants
at the camp under the bridge. Migrants pitched tents and built makeshift
shelters from giant reeds known as carrizo cane. Many bathed and washed clothes
in the river. It is unclear how such a large number amassed so quickly, though
many Haitians have been assembling in camps on the Mexican side of the border
to wait while deciding whether to attempt entry into the U.S The number of Haitian arrivals began to reach
unsustainable levels for the Border Patrol in Del Rio about 2 ½ weeks ago,
prompting the agency’s acting sector chief, Robert Garcia, to ask headquarters
for help, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the
matter publicly. Since then, the agency has transferred Haitians in buses and
vans to other Border Patrol facilities in Texas, specifically El Paso, Laredo
and Rio Grande Valley. They are mostly processed outside of the government’s
pandemic-related authority, meaning they can claim asylum and remain in the
U.S. while their claims are considered. U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement make custody decisions, but families can generally not be held more
than 20 days under court order.
Homeland Security’s plan
announced Saturday signals a shift to the use of pandemic-related authority for
immediate expulsion to Haiti without an opportunity to claim asylum, the
official said. The planned flights, while potentially massive in scale, hinge
on how Haitians respond. They might have to decide whether to stay put at the
risk of being sent back to an impoverished homeland or return to Mexico.
Unaccompanied children are exempt from fast-track expulsions. Homeland Security
said in a statement that “our borders are not open, and people should not make
the dangerous journey.” “Individuals and families are subject to border
restrictions, including expulsion,” the agency wrote.
^ A lot more needs to be done on
the US-Mexican Border to stop the thousands upon thousands of illegal
immigrants from entering the US. It seems Biden is not good at Domestic (Covid,
Employment, Illegal Immigration) or International (Illegal Immigration,
Afghanistan) issues. What is he good at? ^
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