Immigration to the USA: US authorities block the bridge between Texas and Mexico

Enlarge image

Locked border crossing in Del Rio, Texas

Photo: MARCO BELLO / REUTERS

Because so many people want to immigrate to the United States near the Texan city of Del Rio, the authorities have temporarily closed the border crossing there to Mexico.

Regular traffic has to move to a checkpoint around 90 kilometers further east, the customs and border protection authorities announced on Friday.

More than 10,000 people, mainly from Haiti, have recently been waiting under a bridge at the US border.

It runs over the Rio Grande and connects the Texas community of Del Rio with the Mexican city of Ciudad Acuña.

Mayor expects thousands more asylum seekers

At the beginning of the week there were still around 2000 who crossed the river, said the mayor of Del Rio, Bruno Lozano.

He assumed that thousands more would come.

The people come not only from Haiti, but also from countries like Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Lozano declared a state of emergency and had the bridge closed.

A humanitarian catastrophe threatens.

"There are women who give birth, people who faint because of the temperature, they're a bit aggressive, and that's normal after all these days in the heat," said the mayor of the Texas Tribune.

The border guards stated that they had increased their staff in order to cope with the situation "safely, humanely and in an orderly manner".

Officials distributed drinking water, towels and portable toilets to the people.

As the news agency AP reports, the US government wants to start flying people from Haiti back to their home country on Sunday.

Planning is still ongoing, but there are likely to be several flights a day, said a government official who wanted to remain anonymous.

Don't just send families back without further ado

The dire situation in Del Rio is putting President Joe Biden's administration under pressure.

Due to health regulations that were issued at the beginning of the corona pandemic, the border guards in most cases do not accept applications for the right to stay.

The vast majority of people arriving at the border are turned away.

On Thursday, however, a federal judge ordered that the authorities would no longer be allowed to send families back without further ado.

This could make the action of the authorities much more difficult.

The government appealed the decision on Friday.

more on the subject

• US Vice President Harris to potential migrants: "Don't come here"

• Refugee Crisis in the US: Trial by Fire for Kamala HarrisBy Roland Nelles, Washington

• Migration to the USA: Why thousands of parents send their children across the border aloneAn interview by Nicola Abé, São Paulo

For months, the opposition has accused President Biden of having triggered a "migration crisis" by easing the tough border protection measures taken by his predecessor Donald Trump.

Since Biden took office, the authorities have recorded the arrivals of more than 1.3 million people on the border with Mexico, more than in 20 years.

The situation in Del Rio offers Republicans new arguments.

Senator Ted Cruz denounced "a disaster caused by Joe Biden" after his on-site visit.

He attributed the situation to the president's decision to initially suspend deportation flights to the unstable country following the assassination of the Haitian president.

lov / AFP / AP / Reuters