The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released figures Thursday tracking the swell of Haitian migrants at the southern border, announcing that 12 flights had sent 1,401 back to Haiti, while 3,206 remained in custody, and 5,000 remained camped out beneath the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas but questions remain over where the other 5,000 who were once at the camp have gone.
Those 3,206 Haitian migrants have either been moved to custody under Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or to other sectors of the border to either be expelled or placed into removal proceedings.
It’s not clear how many of the other estimated 5,000 who were once at the camp have been released into the US and how many turned back around at the border of their own volition, nor is it clear how many of those in CBP custody will be released and how many will be expelled.
DHS could not immediately be reached for comment.
A peak of 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants camped out under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas and as of Tuesday, according to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, that number dropped to 10,000.
This year alone, around 1.3 million migrants were apprehended by Customs and Border Protection.
At White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s daily press briefing on Wednesday, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy confronted her on the yet-to-be-released numbers after Mayorkas revealed during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that he did not know the figures.
‘So who else can we ask?’ Doocy asked.
When the press secretary attempted to direct him back to DHS, Doocy replied, ‘He says he doesn’t know.’
‘I am confident that he wanted to have the most up-to-date numbers and we will venture to get you those – I promise, this afternoon,’ Psaki vowed.
In a follow-up question Doocy asked if the issue is that the administration doesn’t know or if they don’t want to reveal figures because ‘a lot more people are being released into the U.S. than are being sent out.’
‘That is certainly not the issue,’ Psaki said.
It is still not clear when those figures will actually become public.
Psaki (left) told a Fox News reporter Peter Doocy (right) that he’ll get updated numbers on the migrant crisis this afternoon after he grilled her on immigration reform
Mayorkas, meanwhile, was at the Capitol Wednesday for his second day of back-to-back congressional hearings – this time before a House committee.
Republican Florida Representative Carlos Gimenez asked Mayorkas today about how many of the migrants apprehended at the border this year were detained, returned or ‘dispersed.’
‘I would be pleased to provide you with specific data subsequent to this hearing, congressman,’ Mayorkas answered.
Gimenez accused Mayorkas of being unprepared for the hearing, to which the DHS chief snapped about his long work hours.
‘I work 18 hours a day, OK? So when I returned from yesterday’s hearing, I actually focused on mission. We will get that data, both to the senator who posed it yesterday and to you, congressman, today,’ he said.
It follows on from Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate when Mayorkas still could not provide migrant data.
‘I want some numbers here. Of the 1.3 million people that we’ve apprehended, how many people have been returned? How many people are being detained? How many people have been dispersed to all points around America?’ Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked the secretary during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.
DHS Secretary Mayorkas was grilled by lawmakers in back-to-back congressional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday
‘Senator, I would be pleased to provide you with that data — ‘ Mayorkas said before he was cut off.
‘I want them now,’ Johnson demanded. ‘Why don’t you have that information now?’
‘Senator, I do not have that data before me,’ Mayorkas replied.
‘Why not? Why don’t you have that basic information?’ the senator asked.
‘Senator, I want to be accurate,’ Mayorkas said.
The secretary revealed Tuesday that around 5,000 migrants have been removed from the encampment surrounding the Del Rio International Bridge as DHS launches a probe into agents on horseback using what appeared to be whips against the mostly Haitian migrants.
‘How many migrants have crossed into the United States in Del Rio over the past week?’ Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley asked Mayorkas.
‘So last week, I think the high point was 13,000-15,000 – it is now well below 10,000. We continue to move individuals from Del Rio to other processing centers to facilitate their repatriation,’ the DHS secretary responded.
‘We have increased the number of repatriation flights to Haiti and to other countries,’ Mayorkas added as it was revealed this week DHS is aiming to send out several deportation flights per day.
Migrants stand in line while awaiting transport out of a border makeshift camp along the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on September 22
A photo from Wednesday shows migrants being routed out of a makeshift border camp after being processed by US officials. The White House has pledged to deport most of the migrants back to Haiti under Title 42, but reports indicate that’s not the case for some being released
U.S. Border Patrol agents ride near a migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas on September 22
Mayorkas also refused to say whether he felt he and the Biden administration bear any responsibility for the influx of Haitian migrants over the last few weeks or the broader border crisis in general.
The DHS chief visited the border after increasing pressure to do so as images of mostly Haitian migrants in a tent city under the Del Rio bridge spurred accusations the Biden administration was enabling a humanitarian crisis.
The administration used the Trump-era Title 42 policy as a shield, claiming migrants would be sent back to the Caribbean country, which is still reeling from a deadly earthquake and political instability following the assassination of its president.
Under Title 42, migrants can be repatriated to their home nations without the possibility of requesting asylum due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, officials told DailyMail.com that thousands of Haitian migrants are being freed into the US on a ‘very, very large scale’ rather than being flown out on the deportation flights.
Two US officials with knowledge of the situation in Del Rio – where a peak of around 14,600 mostly Haitian migrants were camped out under a bridge at the weekend after crossing into the US from Mexico – said thousands have been released into the US with notices to appear at an immigration court in 60 days’ time under the so-called ‘catch and release’ scheme.
Others have been sent on buses and planes to other parts of the US to be processed by Border Patrol agents there, they said.
US special envoy for Haiti RESIGNS over ‘inhumane decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees’, warns crisis will ‘only grow’ and slams Biden for causing it
The U.S. special envoy for Haiti resigned on Wednesday because he didn’t want to be involved with the ‘inhumane’ deportation of Haitian migrants.
‘I will not be associated with the United States [sic] inhumane, counterproductive, decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs in control of daily life,’ Ambassador Daniel Foote wrote in his resignation letter, first shared by a PBS reporter on Twitter.
In the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foote said another reason for his resignation is that his recommendations to help Haiti have been ‘ignored and dismissed’ and he blamed the Biden administration for the ongoing crisis with Haitian migrants.
‘Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed,’ Foote continued in his letter, ‘and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.’
The resignation comes as the U.S. migration crisis surged in the past few weeks when up to 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants set up an encampment near the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki promised during her press briefing on Wednesday to share later in the day the exact number of illegal immigrants released into the U.S. this year – including those part of the massive Haitian migration.
When asked Wednesday evening when the figures would be made available after they were still not released, Psaki told DailyMail.com: ‘As soon as it is available form [sic] DHS.’
By Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at least 5,000 of these mostly Haitian migrants had been removed from Del Rio – whether they were moved to other centers, deported back to their homeland or released into the U.S. He could not give exact figures during a congressional hearing on how many were released into the country.
Deportation flights ensued on Sunday and continued through the week as planes full of Haitian migrants arrived back in the island capital city of Port-au-Prince.
People are fleeing Haiti and seeking refuge in America after a devastating earthquake and the assassination of their president, which has thrown the country into even more chaos.
Foote said that the deportation back to Haiti will only exacerbate the migration crisis at the southern border.
‘The collapsed state is unable to provide security or basic services, and more refugees will further desperation and crime,’ the now-former special envoy wrote in his resignation letter of Haiti. ‘Surging migration at our borders will only grow as we add to Haiti’s unacceptable misery.’
Foote only served in his post for two months after becoming the U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti in July following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. In the role, Foote served as a member of President Joe Biden’s delegation to Moïse’s funeral.
Before taking on that role he previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Haiti and as the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia under President Donald Trump.
In November 2019, during his tenure in Zambia, Foote said he was ‘horrified’ after a judge in the very conservative society where homosexual acts are illegal sentence two men to 15 years in prison after they were caught having sex in 2017.
He received pushback from Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu for trying to dictate policy and declared him a persona non grata – or an unacceptable or unwelcome person.
Foote has served with the Department of State since 1998 and has held a litany of roles since then – including in the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico; the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Colombia; deputy chief of mission in both Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and chargé d’affaires in the Dominican Republic.
While many migrants were rounded up and returned to Haiti from the U.S. in the last few days, many began crossing back into Mexico from the border town of Del Rio to avoid deportation to Haiti.
Images began emerging on Sunday of Border Patrol agents and officers on horseback rounding up migrants and preventing them from returning to the makeshift camp near the Del Rio bridge.
Immediately, the images were slammed as ‘inhumane’ and ‘horrific’ after some accused the agents of using either the reins or a lariat as a whip on the migrants. Images show a rope-like tool being thrown in the direction of some migrants who were running from the officers.
Agents insist they were not using any whips on migrants, while Mayorkas says those pictured with the ropes have been reassigned to administrative duties pending a full investigation into the incident.