The U.S. Border Patrol said that more than 9,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, were being held in a temporary staging area under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas as agents worked as quickly as they could to process them.
About 1,400 Haitians have been deported since Sunday, with more flights scheduled for each day, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. As of Thursday, there were around 4,050 migrants, most of them Haitians, still at the Del Rio bridge.
As many as 14,000 migrants are expected to be returned to Haiti over the next several weeks. Haitian officials have pleaded with the United States to grant a “humanitarian moratorium,” amid widespread instability.
But the Biden administration, facing the highest level of border crossings in decades, has enforced policies intended to slow the entry of migrants. On Monday, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said newly-arrived Haitians would not be covered by the temporary residence orders that were extended earlier this year.
“We are very concerned that Haitians who are taking this irregular migration path are receiving false information that the border is open or that temporary protected status is available,” Mr. Mayorkas said during a news conference on Monday in Del Rio, Texas. “I want to make sure that it is known that this is not the way to come to the United States.”
Officials at Haiti’s Embassy in Washington did not respond to messages for comment Thursday morning.
In a statement, the State Department thanked Mr. Foote for his service and said “the United States remains committed to supporting safe, orderly, and humane migration throughout our region.”
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/us/politics/haiti-diplomat-resign-biden.html
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