One of last week’s most gripping news items was the Federal Aviation Administration nixing permission for news outlets to get an overhead video of Haitian refugees streaming across the border.
Well, it turns out the news crews’ ability to do flyovers wasn’t the only thing restored. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned Haitian migrants not to come to the U.S. The Biden administration will begin deporting migrants on Wednesday after starting repatriation flights to Haiti he canceled a week ago.
“We are very concerned that Haitians that are taking the irregular migration path are receiving misinformation—that the border is open or that Temporary Protected Status is available to them despite the fact they are arriving long after the date that presents the deadline for TPS eligibility,” Mayorkas told journalists during a conference call, the Miami Herald reported. “This is not the way to come to the United States.”Bruno Lozano, the mayor of Del Rio, Texas, estimated that there were more than 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers at a border location. The U.S. aims to expel many of the migrants camped around a bridge in Del Rio, a report said.Starting Wednesday, there will be seven expulsion flights daily to Port-au-Prince and to Cap-Haitien, the Associated Press reported, citing a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Flights will continue to depart from San Antonio but authorities may add El Paso, the official said. DHS did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News.
The usual suspects are unhappy with the development.
Human rights advocates are enraged at the Biden administration for resuming repatriation flights to Haiti, despite the country’s ongoing political, economic and environmental disasters.Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Wednesday expelled 86 Haitian nationals from the United States and flew them back to Haiti.“That ICE would continue to carry out the mass deportations of our Haitian neighbors—with Haiti in the midst of its worst political, public health and economic crises yet—is cruel and callous,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).
A federal judge ordered a block on the deportation blitz, but the U.S. has a two-week window to conduct deportations until the order goes into effect.
The Biden administration continues to use a pandemic enforcement measure known as Title 42 to rapidly “expel” border crossers to Mexico or their home countries. Officials said some of the flights to Haiti probably would be expulsion flights relying on the public health authority of the Title 42 provision.A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Biden administration from using Title 42 to expel migrant families but stayed the order for 14 days. The Biden administration appealed the ruling Friday.By announcing its intent to deport the Haitians before launching the flights, Biden officials also appeared to be hoping that some in the camp would abandon their attempt to remain in the United States and return to Mexico. Migrants arriving at the camp have been given numbered tickets by the U.S. Border Patrol as they await their turn to be formally taken into U.S. custody, normally the first step in starting the process of requesting U.S. asylum or some other form of protection from deportation.Some Haitians seeking to avoid deportation could abandon the Del Rio camp and try to abscond in the United States or return to Mexico, two U.S. officials acknowledged.
Yet, many of these immigrants are heading to relocation centers.
The increased flights are part of a six-part plan to address increased migrant encounters in the Del Rio sector, DHS said. As part of the plan, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will surge 400 agents and officers to improve control of the area.In addition, U.S. Border Patrol will coordinate with ICE and the U.S. Coast Guard to move individuals from Del Rio to other processing locations. About 2,000 migrants were relocated Friday.
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