Homeland Security chief to travel to southern U.S. border as thousands crowd into makeshift camp

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“I will make it to the border myself,” Mayorkas told CNN’s Jim Acosta, although he did not specify when. Mayorkas added that he was in regular contact with the White House and that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation “on several occasions”.

Thousands of migrants – including families, pregnant women and babies – crowded into a makeshift camp under the Del Rio International Bridge. They are sleeping in the dirt, surrounded by growing garbage piles, exposed to the elements and without much food and water in hopes of being treated by the overwhelmed US Border Patrol, an aerial tour of the scene shows.

The encampment has raised additional public health concerns due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and Mayorkas told CNN the government is not vaccinating migrants at this time.

Due to the chaotic situation, the Del Rio processing center has temporarily closed and traffic is being redirected to efficiently manage resources and ensure the uninterrupted flow of trade and travel, US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said on Sunday. at a press conference.

There were more than 14,300 migrants – many of them Haitians – under the Del Rio international bridge awaiting treatment by immigration authorities on Saturday, according to Bruno Lozano, the mayor of Del Rio. That number fell from around 400 just over a week ago in a growing immigration crisis for the Biden administration.

“We are certainly in a difficult situation, but we are increasing our resources and we have a multi-pronged approach in this regard,” Mayorkas said on Sunday.

Mayorkas confirmed CNN’s information that the Department of Homeland Security was obtaining resources from the Department of Defense for further aid in Del Rio. The Department of Defense – which has previously supported DHS in securing the border – would provide logistical support, although it is not clear when the request will be submitted. DHS also receives assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services. Mayorkas added that the American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen are helping provide supplies and meals.

DHS said in a statement on Saturday that it was preparing additional transport to accelerate the pace and increase the capacity of return flights to Haiti, as well as other destinations, in the next 72 hours. The agency also announced that customs and border protection will send 400 officers and agents to the Del Rio area.

The border patrol is coordinating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Coast Guard to move people from Del Rio to other processing locations, including about 2,000 on Friday.

Authorities were able to move around 3,300 people over the past two days, Ortiz said on Sunday, adding that “we expect up to 3,000 migrants to be transferred under the bridge” within the next 24 hours.

“I’m going to tell you that at midnight we had no passage through this area, so it’s certainly very optimistic and promising that this will bring us to a point where we can manage the population that is under the bridge. at this point, ”the border chief said.

When asked to explain why there has been a wave of Haitian migration in the Del Rio area, Ortiz said: “Haitians and people of West Africa traditionally cross paths in the Del Rio sector because they have already known people who have already crossed this region. … traditionally it’s through word of mouth. “

Lozano – who tweeted earlier on Sunday that he had updated Mayorkas on the “catastrophic” situation in the region – said at a press conference on Sunday that “the news will quickly spread that Haitians are being sent back to their country of origin “as Recover repatriation flights.

Many Haitians currently at the border are believed to have lived in South America after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, but the toll of the pandemic in the region has fueled migration to the southern border of the United States. Haiti is also still reeling from an earthquake in August that left more than 2,000 dead and thousands injured, as well as the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July. For these reasons, more than 50 Democratic lawmakers urged the Biden administration in a letter last week to halt deportations to the country.

Mayorkas said the US government had “studied conditions in Haiti” and referred to its May announcement that the US would grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians residing in the country on July 29, before the recent earthquake. “We are very much aware of the devastation that occurred in the wake of the earthquake,” Mayorkas told CNN. He said his agency was working with the Haitian government and the State Department on the repatriation effort.

He continued, “We have made it clear that people arriving after (July 29) would in fact be repatriated. That is indeed what we are doing.”

Images from the Del Rio area show crowds of migrants in the camp as others cross the Rio Grande near the bridge. Some carried young children through the water up to their knees; others carried their belongings in plastic bags or gallons of water. Tents made of blankets and pieces of wood were erected. The clothes were spread out on the floor to dry in the scorching sun.

Rosa Flores, Priscilla Alvarez, Ray Sanchez and Joe Sutton of CNN contributed to this report.

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