“I will travel to the border myself,” Mayorkas told CNN’s Jim Acosta, although he did not specify when. Mayorkas added that he was in regular contact with the White House and that President Joe Biden had been briefed “several times” on the situation.
Thousands of migrants – including families, pregnant women and babies – have huddled in a makeshift camp under the Del Rio International Bridge. They sleep in the dirt, surrounded by growing mountains of rubbish, exposed to the elements and without much food and water in the hope of being processed by the overwhelmed US border protection agency. an aviation through the scene shows.
The camp has raised additional public health concerns due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and Mayorkas told CNN that the government is not currently vaccinating migrants.
As a result of the chaotic situation, Del Rio processing center has been temporarily closed and traffic will be diverted to effectively manage resources and ensure the uninterrupted flow of trade and travel, U.S. Border Protection chief Raul Ortiz said in a news conference on Sunday.
According to Bruno Lozano, the mayor of Del Rio, there were more than 14,300 migrants – many of them Haitians – under the Del Rio International Bridge on Saturday waiting to be processed by immigration authorities. That number rose from about 400 a little over a week ago in a mounting immigration crisis for the Biden government.
“We are certainly experiencing a challenging situation, but we are driving the resources and we are pursuing a multi-pronged approach,” Mayorkas said on Sunday.
Mayorkas confirmed reports from CNN that the Department of Homeland Security is receiving resources from the Department of Defense for additional assistance in Del Rio. The Department of Defense – which previously assisted DHS in securing the border – would provide logistical support, although it is unclear when the application will be submitted. The DHS is also supported by the Department of Health and Welfare. Mayorkas added that the American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen are helping with supplies and meals.
DHS said in a statement on Saturday it is Preparation of additional transports accelerate the pace and increase the capacity of deportation flights to Haiti and other destinations within the next 72 hours. The agency also announced that Customs and Border Protection will bring 400 agents and officials into the Del Rio sector.
Border Patrol is coordinating with Immigration and Customs and the U.S. Coast Guard to move people from Del Rio to other processing locations, including about 2,000 on Friday.
Authorities have moved about 3,300 people in the past two days, Ortiz said on Sunday, adding that “our expectation is to get up to 3,000 migrants out from under the bridge within the next 24 hours”.
“I’ll tell you that we didn’t have a single intersection in this area at midnight, so it’s certainly very optimistic and promising that we will get to a point where we can move the population under the bridge at that point,” said the border chief.
When asked why there has been an increase in Haitian migration to the Del Rio sector, Ortiz said, “Haitians and people from West Africa traditionally cross in the Del Rio sector area because they previously knew people who were in that area have crossed … traditionally for word of mouth. “
Lozano – who had tweeted the previous Sunday that he had informed Mayorkas about the “grim” situation in the region – said during a press conference on Sunday that “word will quickly get around that Haitians are being sent back to their home country as return flights”. pick up.
Many of the Haitians currently on the border are believed to have lived in South America after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, but the pandemic’s toll in the region has fueled migration to the US southern border. Haiti is also still suffering from an earthquake in August that left more than 2,000 dead and thousands more injured, as well as the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July. For these reasons, have more than 50 Democratic MPs urged the Biden administration in a letter last week Stop deportations into the country.
Mayorkas said the US government had “investigated conditions in Haiti,” referring to its May announcement that the US would grant temporary protection status to Haitians who had been in the country since July 29, prior to the most recent earthquake ( TPS). “We are very aware of the devastation caused by the earthquake,” Mayorkas told CNN. He said his agency is working with the Haitian government and the foreign ministry on the return effort.
He continued, “We have made it very, very clear that people who arrive after July 29th will in fact be repatriated.
Pictures from the Del Rio area show Masses of migrants in the camp while others wade near the bridge over the Rio Grande. Some carried small children across the knee-length water; others carried their belongings in plastic bags or liters of water. Tents made of blankets and pieces of wood were erected. The clothes were laid out on the floor to dry under the scorching sun.
CNN’s Rosa Flores, Priscilla Alvarez, Ray Sanchez and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
