By Elliot Spagat, Maria Verza and Juan A. Lozano -
The Associated Press
Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two US officials said Tuesday, despite the government's assurance that the thousands of people settled in the area faced immediate expulsion.
Haitians have been released
"on a very, very large scale"
in recent days, according to an official who put the number in the thousands.
The source, with direct knowledge of the operations, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter in public.
Many have been left free with a notice to go to an immigration office within 60 days, a solution that requires less processing time for Border Patrol agents than ordering an appearance before an immigration court, and aims for speed. with which the authorities are moving, said the official.
Images of border agents on horseback preventing migrants from passing cause outrage
Sept.
21, 202102: 34
The Department of Homeland Security has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley, along the Texas border, and this week included flights to Tucson, Arizona, the source explained. .
The migrants are being processed by the Border Patrol at those points.
["We're hungry," say Haitian immigrants desperately crossing into the US]
A second official, also with direct knowledge of the matter and who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that a large number of Haitians were being processed under immigration law and were not boarding the deportation flights to Haiti that began Sunday.
The official could not be more specific regarding the figure.
In recent days, US authorities scrambled to find buses to Tucson, but turned to flights after failing to find enough transportation contractors, both officials said.
Coast Guard planes flew the Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso.
Aerial view of the makeshift migrant camp along the international bridge in Del Rio, Texas, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Julio Cortez / AP
The releases in the United States came despite indications of a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights to their country under the authority stemming from the pandemic that denies migrants the opportunity to seek asylum.
A third official not authorized to discuss the operation in public said there are scheduled to be seven daily flights to Haiti starting Wednesday.
The accounts of mass releases - some witnessed by Associated Press reporters at the Del Rio bus station - are the opposite of statements made the day before by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who traveled to the city to promise a quick response.
[The city of Acuña turns to helping migrants who have returned from Texas]
"If you come to the United States illegally, you will be deported, your trip will not be successful and you will be putting your life and that of your family in danger," Mayorkas said at a news conference on Monday.
The releases come amid a rapid operation to empty the camp installed under a bridge that, according to some estimates, during the week was home to more than 14,000 people in a city of 35,000 inhabitants.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said pointing to a visit to Del Rio on Tuesday that the county's top authority told him the settlement's most recent count was about 8,600 people.
The criteria for deciding who is deported to Haiti and who is freed on US soil were unclear, but the two officials noted that the priority for removal flights was single adults.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.