Daniel Costa
Assistant News Editor
The southern border of the United States is once more the site of migrant camps as thousands of Latin American migrants gather there, hoping to receive access to the United States. The migrants come from various national backgrounds, but are mostly of Haitian origin as a result of the political and economic chaos grappling that nation. Local and state agencies were quickly overwhelmed at the primary camp site, located at the International Bridge between the cities of Ciudad Acuna, Mexico and Del Rio, Texas.
Initially, there were 12,000 people assembled at the site, however that number has since decreased to 8,600, per CNN.
A majority of the Haitian migrants have actually traveled from other Latin American nations, such as Mexico, Brazil and Chile. These nations initially took in the refugees, however the Haitians faced difficulties acquiring legal documents and economic opportunity.
Rumors then made their way to the ears of the migrant communities dotted among the nations of South and Central America. From there, Haitians slowly started to make their way north to the American-Mexican border. One rumor had informed the community of an access point to the United States at the International Bridge. Upon being denied entry, many of the migrants setup camp at the border and simply waited for a resolution by the Mexican and American governments.
The solution has Biden supporters across the nation questioning his intentions on immigration and refugees. The Border Patrol, a Federal agency, was blasted over the week as claims they were using whips on migrants were instead proven false, as an NPR interview with journalists on the ground note. The whips were in actuality the horse reins used by Border Patrol agents, and they were not being used as whips. Nevertheless, President Biden has unquestionably resorted to an aggressive approach to the situation, in the hopes of preventing future crises of this magnitude at the border.
Governor Greg Abbot of Texas requested Federal help to deal with the surge of people. Several state agencies, including the Texas National Guard, have been mobilized to execute Abbot’s orders. Among these is the implementation of a lengthy “steel wall” of police vehicles to prevent further illegal crossings from the border.
The Mexican government has also decided to contain the flow of migrants on their side of the river, no doubt in cooperation with the Biden administration.
Both the American and Mexican governments have begun flying the Haitian migrants away from the area. Biden ordered mass deportations of Haitians to Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien via plane, while Mexico relocated the migrants with Mexican residency to the far south of the country. Head of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, had this to say regarding the crisis, “Border Patrol is coordinating with ICE and the US Coast Guard to move individuals from Del Rio to other processing locations, including approximately 3,500 over the last few days and 3,000 today in order to ensure that migrants are swiftly taken into custody, processed and removed from the United States consistent with our laws and policies.”