The Department of Homeland Security will start deporting Haitian migrants camping in Del Rio, Texas, illegally crossing the borders. Many human rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have opposed the plans of the Biden administration.
The plan was put in place to discourage Haitian migrants from illegally going to a camp in Del Rio, Texas. The Department of Homeland Security said that they would accelerate the pace and increase the batches of deportation to Haiti and other countries in the next 72 hours.
The plan, however, did not give details about how many people will be placed on each plane and how these migrants will be processed before being placed on a flight. However, the Biden administration said that families with children would be subject to exclusion, but it is also unclear what the conditions will be for such families, NPR reported.
The plans of the Biden administration alongside the Department of Homeland Security came four months after Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced an 18-month temporary protected status for Haitians living in the United States. He cited that the protection is because of the “serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.” The protected status only applies to those who will apply and qualify for a work permit and stay of deportation.
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Despite the plans of the Biden administration and the Department of Homeland Security, thousands of Haitian migrants remained at the camp in Del Rio, Texas, after they crossed from Mexico on Saturday. Many of them crossed back and forth across the Rio Grande to re-enter Mexico so they could purchase water, food, and diapers. After their purchases, they returned to the camp located near a bridge in the border city of Del Rio.
Many of these migrants said that they intended to remain in the camp and seek asylum. They said that the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse made them afraid to return to a country that they believe is more unstable now as opposed to when they left.
As of Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security moved around 2,000 of the migrants from the camp to other locations to process their deportation.
