Accepting stormy Republican verbal fire and Democrats calling for action, Joe Biden’s government has said it will speed up the deportation of nearly 15,000 immigrants, the vast majority of Haitians, by air. who have been camping in recent days under a bridge in Texas.
Immigrants arrived from Mexico to Del Rio, Texas across the Rio Grande River.
They were less than 2,000 at the beginning of the week; yesterday they had reached 14,800, according to the mayor of the American border city, Bruno Losano.
Dramatic images of immigrants under the bridge in the heat of the moment, awaiting a review by US authorities, have pushed Republicans and Democrats alike to demand that Joe Biden’s government address the issue immediately.
The US president has been silent so far, but yesterday, his government’s Department of Homeland Security announced a “new comprehensive response strategy” to mass arrivals.
It provides in particular “Accelerating the pace and increasing the capacity of expatriate flights to Haiti and other destinations” the next 72 hours.
Citizens of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere remain a small minority of immigrants arriving illegally in the United States, but their numbers have risen in recent months.
Adding to the political unrest and insecurity that was already plaguing Haiti in August was a deadly 7.2 magnitude earthquake that swept across the southwestern part of the country, killing more than 2,200 people.
Many Haitians who had already fled their homeland after the catastrophic earthquake of 2010 (more than 200,000 dead) settled in other Latin American countries, especially Brazil. But finding work and renewing a residence permit became a complicated task for thousands of them, who decided to take the road north.
Faced with the mass arrival of immigrants, Del Rio Democratic Mayor declares state of emergency and closes the bridge to traffic on Friday.
“Today we had a significant change of strategy,” he told the media yesterday. “The Del Rio area will get a lot more media.”
“We will see even more buses” arrive to transport migrants to border checkpoints, where their files will be examined, and to airports from where they will be deported, the mayor continued.
The federal police service in charge of border guarding, the CBP, has deployed an additional 400 members to “improve surveillance in the area,” the Interior Ministry said.
He insisted in a press release that “deportations and flights to Haiti, Mexico, Ecuador and the Nordic countries” of Central America, namely Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, were already taking place before Saturday.
“Immigration crisis”
The Biden administration reminds us that “our borders are not open” and that “no one should make this perilous journey,” the ministry added, responding indirectly to the fierce fire of Republicans who say the White House Democrat “Immigration crisis” relaxing the measures of Donald Trump’s predecessor. The tycoon had turned the fight against illegal immigration into his chariot.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who represents Texas in Washington, D.C., continued to pound via Twitter on Saturday after his visit to Del Rio over the weekend: “No one who really sees what is happening can believe that inhumane policies have meaning”.
The border guard distributed drinking water, personal hygiene items and installed portable toilets for migrants.
“The vast majority of migrants continue to be deported” immediately, under a health regulation that was adopted when the pandemic broke out to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the interior security ministry said.
However, a federal judge on Thursday ordered Biden’s government to stop sending families back, citing the situation, a move that could complicate matters for authorities already facing historic migratory flows along the border with the Middle East. The day before yesterday, the federal government appealed against this court decision.
Among other immigrants, those who do not have a “legal reason to stay” will be deported as required by law, according to the ministry.
More than 1.3 million immigrants have been detained at the US-Mexico border since Joe Biden took office, an unprecedented number in the last 20 years.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
