The United States began sending home Haitians who had camped in a Texas border town, while blocking others who wanted to cross the border from Mexico. the great show of strength started what could be One of the biggest and fastest The expulsion of immigrants and refugees for decades.
more than 320 immigrants They arrived on Sunday To Port-au-Prince in three flightsHaiti said it expects six more flights on Tuesday. In general, the US authorities planned to expel many more than camping for 12,000 people Around a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, after crossing from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico.
The United States plans to organize Seven daily trips Of the expulsions as of Wednesday, four are to Port-au-Prince and three to Cap-Haitien, according to a US official not authorized to comment on the matter publicly. He added that flights will continue to depart from San Antonio, although authorities may add another route from El Paso.
background
The only obvious example of mass expulsion without a chance to seek asylum was in 1992When the Coast Guard intercepted Haitian refugees at sea, said Yael Schecher, a US activist with Refugees International, who based his doctoral studies on the history of asylum law in the United States.
In the years of peak immigration, many groups of Mexicans were deported, but Transfers were made by road And not suddenly.
Patrols installed in Texas deny Haitians access. Photo: AFP
Central American migrants have also crossed the border in similar units without experiencing mass expulsions, although Mexico agreed to take them from the United States under a pandemic-related mandate introduced in March 2020.
Mexico does not accept the expulsion of Haitians Nor for persons of other nationalities except Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans and El Salvadorans.
When the borders closed on Sunday, the immigrants first found themselves Other ways to cross around the area, until they found federal and government agents.
The immigrants returned to Mexico from the town of Del Rio, Texas. Photo: AP
An Associated Press reporter saw Haitian immigrants continue to cross the river into the United States about 2.4 kilometers (1.4 mi) east of the former crossing point, but They were finally arrested by agents On horseback from the Texas Border Patrol and Security Forces.
some Haitians They crossed the river with boxes on their heads Full of nutrients. Many of them took off their clothes before entering the river and kept them out of the water. Others don’t seem to worry about getting wet.
Customers at the migrant crossing, waist-deep into the water, shouted, telling them to get out of the water. Hundreds of people who managed to cross were waiting at the American Bank They were ordered to go to camp in del Rio. Mexican agents on a boat told others they wanted to cross back to Mexico.
Some Haitians crossed the river with boxes full of food on their heads. Photo: AP
Charlie Jane had crossed back from the camps to Ciudad Acuña to get food for his wife and three daughters, ages 2, 5 and 12. I was waiting on the Mexican side The restaurant will deliver the order the rice.
“We need food every day,” Jane said. “I can do without it, but my daughters can’t.” who lived in Chile for five years before embarking on the journey north to the United States. He did not know if he was able to cross the river again and reach the camp.
Mexico is also leaving
Mexico announced on Sunday that I will also start deporting Haitians to your country. The flights will depart from Monterrey, near the border with the United States, and from Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, where the largest group of migrants remain, an official said.
The Haitian immigrants, out of a group of 10,000 people who had been camping on the American side of the border, returned to Mexico. Photo: AFP
In recent years, large numbers of Haitians have immigrated to the United States from South America. Many of them have left their Caribbean country after The devastating earthquake of 2010.
When jobs associated with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro ran out, many made the perilous journey to the US border by foot, bus, and car, which included passing through The scary Darien Jungle in Panama.
Some immigrants in another del Rio camp said Earthquake The last in Haiti and President assassinationJovenel Moss, made them fear to return to a country that seemed more unstable than when they left.
“There is no security in Haiti”said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who came to Texas with his wife and two daughters. The country is in a political crisis.
Many Haitians who made it to the North American shore in the same way returned to the Mexican side so as not to be deported back home.
News agency
AP