Official says only 225 migrants remain in Texas border town

By MARÍA VERZA and JUAN LOZANO

DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Only 225 migrants remained successful a Texas borderline campy wherever astir 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants had gathered conscionable days agone hoping to question asylum, the apical elected authoritative successful Val Verde County said Friday.

County Judge Lewis Owens told The Associated Press successful a substance connection that he’s been told each of the migrants volition beryllium removed by the extremity of the time — a melodramatic alteration from Saturday, erstwhile the fig peaked arsenic migrants driven by disorder implicit the Biden administration’s policies and misinformation connected societal media converged astatine the borderline crossing betwixt Del Rio, Texas, and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico.

Many look expulsion due to the fact that they are not covered by protections precocious extended by the Biden medication to the much than 100,000 Haitian migrants already successful the U.S. — galore of whom near their homeland aft its devastating 2010 earthquake — citing information concerns and societal unrest successful the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.

The United States and Mexico appeared anxious to extremity the progressively politicized humanitarian concern that prompted the resignation of the U.S. peculiar envoy to Haiti and wide outrage aft images emerged of borderline agents maneuvering their horses to forcibly artifact and determination migrants.

On Friday, President Joe Biden said the mode the agents utilized their horses was “horrible” and that “people volition pay” arsenic a result. The agents person been assigned to administrative duties portion the medication investigates.

“There’ volition beryllium consequences,” Biden told reporters. “It’s an embarrassment, but it’s beyond an embarrassment — it’s dangerous, it’s wrong, it sends the incorrect connection astir the satellite and sends the incorrect connection astatine home. It’s simply not who we are.”

Meanwhile, Homeland Security has said that astir 2,000 Haitians person been rapidly expelled connected flights since Sunday nether pandemic powers that contradict radical the accidental to question asylum. About 3,900 were being processed for a imaginable instrumentality to Haiti oregon placement successful U.S. migration tribunal proceedings. Others person been released successful the U.S. with notices to look successful tribunal oregon to study to migration authorities. Thousands person returned to Mexico.

A U.S. authoritative said Thursday that authorities expected the campy to beryllium bare successful astir 2 days. The authoritative had nonstop cognition but was not authorized to talk publicly. Homeland Security had planned to nonstop up to 7 regular flights but flew lone 3 connected Wednesday and 5 connected Thursday due to the fact that of issues with contractors and mechanical delays, the authoritative said. Seven flights were scheduled to Haiti connected Friday, six connected Saturday and 7 connected Sunday.

And successful Mexico, conscionable implicit 100 migrants, astir of them azygous men, remained Friday greeting successful the riverside campy successful Ciudad Acuña.

Dozens of families who had been determination crossed backmost to Del Rio overnight aft Mexican authorities near the area. With the stream moving higher, immoderate Border Patrol agents helped families who were struggling to transverse with children.

Some migrants besides moved to tiny hotels oregon backstage homes successful Ciudad Acuña. Authorities detained six migrants astatine 1 connected Thursday afternoon.

Luxon, a 31-year-old Haitian migrant who withheld his past sanction retired of fear, said helium was leaving with his woman and lad for Mexicali, astir 900 miles westbound on Mexico’s borderline with California.

“The enactment was to spell to a spot wherever determination aren’t a batch of radical and determination petition documents to beryllium ineligible successful Mexico,” helium said.

Asked astir the concern successful Ciudad Acuña connected Friday, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said, “we don’t privation Mexico to beryllium a migrant camp, we privation the occupation to beryllium addressed fully.”

Some Haitians are being allowed to stay successful the U.S. astatine slightest temporarily to question asylum oregon to enactment nether immoderate different assertion to residency, with notices to look aboriginal earlier migration authorities. DHS officials declined to specify the fig but said they are radical with peculiar “vulnerabilities,” meaning they are pregnant, person young children oregon the U.S. doesn’t person the capableness to clasp them successful detention, particularly during the pandemic.

The authorities has nary plans to halt expelling others connected nationalist wellness grounds contempt unit from Democratic lawmakers, who accidental migrants are being sent backmost to a troubled state that immoderate near much than a decennary ago.

The Trump medication enacted the argumentation successful March 2020 to warrant restrictive migration policies successful an effort to forestall the dispersed of the coronavirus. The Biden medication has utilized it to warrant the deportation of Haitian migrants.

A national justice precocious past week ruled that the regularisation was improper and gave the authorities 2 weeks to halt it, but the Biden medication appealed.

Officials said the U.S. State Department is successful talks with Brazil and Chile to let immoderate Haitians who antecedently resided determination to return, but it’s analyzable due to the fact that immoderate of them nary longer person ineligible presumption there.

The Biden administration’s peculiar envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, submitted a missive of resignation connected Thursday protesting the “inhumane” large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants.

Foote, who was appointed successful July, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying helium was stepping down instantly “with heavy disappointment and apologies to those seeking important changes.”

“I volition not beryllium associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive determination to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and amerciable immigrants to Haiti, a state wherever American officials are confined to unafraid compounds due to the fact that of the information posed by equipped gangs to regular life,” helium wrote. “Our argumentation attack to Haiti remains profoundly flawed, and my argumentation recommendations person been ignored and dismissed, erstwhile not edited to task a communicative antithetic from my own.”

The vocation diplomat was known to beryllium profoundly frustrated with what helium considered a deficiency of urgency successful Washington and a glacial gait connected efforts to amended conditions successful Haiti.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price disputed Foote’s assertions, saying his proposals had been “fully considered successful a rigorous and transparent argumentation process.”

“Some of those proposals were determined to beryllium harmful to our committedness to the promotion of ideology successful Haiti and were rejected during the argumentation process. For him to accidental his proposals were ignored is simply false,” Price said.

The humanitarian radical UNICEF besides condemned the expulsions, saying Thursday that archetypal estimates amusement much than 2 retired of 3 migrants expelled to Haiti are women and children, including newborns.

“Haiti is reeling from the triple calamity of earthy disasters, pack unit and the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s enforcement director, who said those sent backmost without capable extortion “find themselves adjacent much susceptible to violence, poorness and displacement — factors that drove them to migrate successful the archetypal place.”

And Civil Rights person Rev. Al Sharpton, who toured the campy connected Thursday, said he’d witnessed “a existent catastrophic and quality disgrace” and vowed to “stand with our radical and marque definite asylum is treated successful 1 mode and 1 manner.”

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Lozano reported from Del Rio, Texas. AP journalists Julio Cortez successful Del Rio; Joshua Goodman successful Miami; Matthew Lee successful New York; Danica Coto successful San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Tammy Webber successful Fenton, Michigan, contributed to this story.