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WASHINGTON – Haitians deported from the United States on Tuesday assaulted pilots aboard one of the flights upon arrival in Port-au-Prince and injured three US immigration officials, according to a source close to inside information on the ‘incident.
Unrest erupted shortly after the arrival of a flight carrying single adult men and handed them over to Haitian authorities on the airport tarmac. Then, according to the source, several of the men stormed another recently arrived flight carrying families.
The men assaulted the pilots of the plane, who worked for a government contractor licensed to perform deportation flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while the families were still on board. Three ICE officers were also attacked aboard the plane, each suffering from non-life threatening injuries, the source said.
The attacks come as the United States ramps up its deportations of Haitians after more than 15,000 people crossed the US border, gathering under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, in just days. On Tuesday, just over 1,000 Haitian migrants were deported to Haiti, according to two sources close to the operations.
A total of 4,000 were either deported or transferred to other processing centers along the border, the Department of Homeland Security said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the crowds in Del Rio would dissipate in the coming days.
“Expect to see dramatic results in the next 48-96 hours,” he said.
But after Tuesday’s assaults, some within DHS fear they won’t have enough security at airports to safely land deportation flights, according to the source close to the incident.
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