The camps of Haitian migrants under the Del Rio International Bridge was reportedly emptied Friday, with some being allowed into the U.S.
“As of this morning there are no longer any migrants in the camp underneath the Del Rio International Bridge,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday, Miami Herald reported.
The DHS has been relocating the migrants to U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing centers along the southern border, rapidly clearing the encampments out. The facilities were overburdened and working over capacity as a result, according to CNN.
Last of Haitian migrants cleared out from under Del Rio, Texas, camp, DHS chief says https://t.co/Tfdcoo63X5
— Jacqueline Charles (@Jacquiecharles) September 24, 2021
Mayorkas said Thursday that a “very small percentage” of the migrants staying in the camps and expecting clearance into the U.S. were released into the country, according to CNN. (RELATED: ‘I Could Have Invested’: Deported Haitians Say They Lost Their Chance At The American Dream)
“It’s a minority of the individuals,” the DHS secretary claimed. “They are placed in immigration enforcement proceedings where they appear before a judge and if they in fact, make a valid claim to remain in the United States, then of course we honor that. And if not, they are removed as well.”
The department officials refused to provide an exact figure of the migrants who have been released.
The Biden administration’s earlier claims that migrants faced immediate expulsion was markedly undercut by government officials who told The Associated Press that releases were taking place on a “very, very large scale,” speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The White House had reportedly set Friday as the deadline for clearing out the encampments at Del Rio ahead of a scheduled Black Lives Matter protest scheduled to take place near the bride over the weekend.
