grab onto a rope to guide them through the current while crossing the Rio Grande river into Mexico near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S Certainly what happened this time is that number has doubled and then tripled relatively quickly.' 'They say the community across the border with Acuña is relatively safe and so traditionally it is because of word of mouth. 'Haitians and folks from Western Africa traditionally cross the Del Rio sector area because they have known individuals previously that have crossed in this area. 'When I was a chief here in 2019, we faced a similar influx, it just wasn't to the same magnitude of what we have seen over the last four or five days. He told a press conference on Sunday: 'There are a couple of things our intelligence is telling us about the Haitian migration flow. Ortiz said that Haitians have crossed into Del Rio because they know people who have crossed in that area previously and said the crossing is relatively safe. Many have chosen to cross from Ciudad Acuna in Mexico to Del Rio due to word of mouth from other people who have crossed there in previous years, Raul Ortiz, the Chief of the United States Border Patrol, said. Migrants cross the Acandi River on their journey north, near Acandi, Colombia, on Wednesday But since the pandemic, both countries have suffered economic declines which has sparked the current influx of migrants trying to reach the U.S.Īs a result, thousands have flocked to Del Rio after crossing narrow sections of the Rio Grande River. are among the estimated 250,000 Haitians who left Haiti after the 2010 earthquake for Chile and Brazil. In addition, many Haitians who are traveling to the U.S. 'In Haiti, there is no security,' said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who arrived in Texas with his wife and two daughters. This led many Haitians to flee their homes and leave the country. Meanwhile, last month Haiti experienced another devastating earthquake last month and the assassination of the President Jovenel Moïse in July - leaving gangs to wreak havoc on the capital. Jozef, the executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, told The New York Times. 'False information, misinformation and misunderstanding might have created a false sense of hope,' said Guerline M. Many Haitians interpreted this as the U.S. The rise in Haitian migration began soon after President Biden took office when he began reversing former President Donald Trump's strict immigration policies. The reasons for the influx of Haitians traveling to the U.S. are traveling from both Haiti directly and from other South American countries such as Chile and Brazil where they have lived since seeking refuge there after the 2010 earthquake. Many of the Haitians aiming to reach the U.S. starting to resolve the issue, they believe the criminal gangs and cartels in South and Central America are working against them by paying for Haitians to make the dangerous journey. On top of this, Border Patrol authorities said that despite the U.S. are traveling from both Haiti directly and from other South American countries such as Chile and Brazil where they have lived since seeking refuge there after the 2010 earthquake Mexican border has been in the making for years as they have been migrating from South America for several years - particularly since the deadly 2010 earthquake.īut now there is a perfect storm due to hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a devastating earthquake in Haiti last month and political instability. The huge surge in Haitians travelling to the U.S. Today, thousands of migrants remained crowded under the Acuña - Del Rio International Bridge as overwhelmed authorities tried to process the influx of people while others started scrambling back across the river to Mexico to avoid deportation. On Sunday, three flights carried migrants back to Port-au-Prince, with up to seven daily flights planned from Wednesday.
is flying Haitians back to their homeland and blocking others from crossing the border from Mexico in a massive show of force. The influx of migrants is being blamed on the Biden administration pausing deportation flights. Some 15,000 Haitians who took that risk have, in the past five days, now illegally crossed from the Mexican border and waded through the waters of the Rio Grande river to set up camp under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. Men, women and children are making the grueling, 1933 mile-journey across international borders, a notoriously dangerous jungle, the sea and deserts.
Desperate Haitians are paying up to $10,000 and traveling thousands of miles by foot, coach and boat to reach safety in the isolated town of Del Rio on the Mexico-U.S.