US immigration officials released hundreds of Haitians from custody Monday in Del Rio, Texas. This small border town is making headlines for an influx of migrants hoping to enter the US.
According to Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, about 300 people were released from detention and not all of them are Haitians.
President Joe Biden’s administration last Saturday announced it would deport migrants who crossed into the US and set up makeshift camps under the Del Rio International Bridge, on Texas’ border with Mexico.
Three deportation flights brought hundreds of Haitian migrants back to Port-au-Prince on Sunday, and another three departed Monday.
Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas said, “We at the Department of Homeland Security ensure additional transportation to accelerate the rate of return and increase the capacity of deportation flights to Haiti and other destinations in the Western Hemisphere. We are working to increase the capacity of return flights to Haiti and other destinations. We anticipate at least one to three flights per day.”
The U.S. continues to deport those who cross the border illegally under the 1944 Health Act that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested under former president Donald Trump’s administration during the coronavirus outbreak and continued by the Biden administration.
The law prohibits migrants from entering the U.S. on public health grounds. [uh/lt]
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