US closes part of Texas border, begins flying Haitians home

SOURCE: AP — The United States on Sunday blocked the Mexican border at an isolated Texas town where thousands of Haitian refugees have crossed and set up a camp, hoping to stop the flow of migrants as officials also began flying some of the Haitians back to their homeland.

About a dozen Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles lined up near the bridge and river where Haitians for almost three weeks have been crossing from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas. Yellow police tape was being used to block them from using a small dam to walk into the US.

A Mexican police officer on the Mexican side of the border said migrants will not be allowed to cross anymore. He would not give his name. An Associated Press reporter saw Haitian immigrants still crossing the border into the US at a nearby spot.

Many of the migrants have lived in Latin America for years, but they are now are seeking asylum in the US as economic opportunities in Brazil and elsewhere dry up. Thousands are living under and near a bridge in Del Rio.

Earlier Sunday, the US sent three flights of Haitians taken from Del Rio back to their homeland, and that number is expected to reach at least six per day shortly, according to a US government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not allowed to discuss the issue publicly. The planes left San Antonio and were expected to arrive Sunday afternoon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.

A large number of buses arrived Sunday in Del Rio, and “many, many more” are coming to transfer Haitians to expulsion flights, US immigration detention centres and Border Patrol holding facilities. Departure cities for Haiti-bound flights have yet to be finalised and are being “actively planned,” the official said.

The blockade and deportations marked a swift response to the sudden arrival of Haitians in Del Rio, a Texas city of about 35,000 people roughly 145 miles (230 kilometres) west of San Antonio. It sits on a relatively remote stretch of border that lacks capacity to hold and process such large numbers of people.

At the Port-au-Prince airport Sunday, about a dozen officials from various Haitian government agencies gathered to meet with the deported Haitians. Public security officials with the Ministry of Justice requested the presence of Haiti’s national police to prevent any potential violence.

A minibus from the International Organisation of Migration also was posted at the airport. It was filled with brightly coloured bags containing toiletries, hand sanitiser and hair ties.

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.

But another 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 US government to stop those deportations in this moment of crises.”

Some of the migrants at the Del Rio camp said the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse make them afraid to return to a country that seems more unstable than when they left.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Saturday that it moved about 2,000 migrants from the Del Rio 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.