More than 10,000 migrants, mostly Haitians, were placed in a slum camp under a bridge in south Texas on Friday. The incident came even as hundreds more headed for the border posing a growing humanitarian and political challenge to US President Joe Biden.
The Haitians joined Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans under the Del Rio International Bridge across the Rio Grande that connects Ciudad Acua in Mexico to Del Rio, Texas. They slept under light blankets, while some people pitched small tents.
Officials on both sides of the US-Mexico border said the majority of the migrants were Haitians and that more were expected to arrive. Most of the people who spoke to Reuters did not come directly from Haiti. But they had made a long and harrowing journey through Mexico and Central and South America.
Haiti, A Beautiful Country In The Caribbean That Was Once The World’s Sugar Producer
Some people say that they follow the route shared between them via WhatsApp. In Ciudad Acua, two workers at the main bus terminal said at least two dozen buses full of Haitians arrived on Friday.
One worker estimated an individual arrival of around 1,100. A Mexican official said the number of migrants was about 12,000 as of Friday afternoon.
Reuters saw dozens of mostly Haitian migrants arriving at the terminal, carrying jugs of water, backpacks and folders containing travel documents. Many say they soon plan to cross the shallow Rio Grande.
Ali Sajous, 29, a Haitian migrant, said US officials handed out numbers for immigration processing. She, her husband, and two-year-old daughter who arrived Monday were No. 910 in the family line. Authorities are processing No. 685 at the time, he said.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has had a troubled history. In July, the president was assassinated. In August a massive earthquake and violent storm hit the country.
Many Haitians interviewed by Reuters said they used to live in South America, often Brazil or Chile. Now they head north because they can’t get legal status or struggle to get a decent job.
Several Haitians also said they were encouraged by videos on social media of applying for asylum in the United States. A Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said about 500 migrants, mostly Haitians, took a bus Friday to the border town of Reynosa, east of Del Rio and across from McAllen, Texas. Hundreds of Haitians are already on the border bridge there.
Later on Friday, Mexican news outlet Aristegiu Noticias said migration officials had unloaded about 400 migrants from buses in the city of San Fernando. The migrants, including pregnant women, children and the elderly, plan to walk about 150 kilometers to Reynosa, the report said. Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(NFL)
