The U.S. Border Patrol said that more than 9,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, were being held in a temporary staging area under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas as agents worked as quickly as they could to process them.
This week, about 300 Haitians were deported back to Haiti — the first among some 14,000 migrants who authorities in the country expect to be returned over the next month. Haitian officials have pleaded with the United States to grant a “humanitarian moratorium,” amid widespread instability.
But the Biden administration, facing the highest level of border crossings in decades, has enforced policies intended to slow the entry of migrants. On Monday, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said newly-arrived Haitians would not be covered by a temporary residence order that protects those who had entered the United States before July 29.
“We are very concerned that Haitians who are taking this irregular migration path are receiving false information that the border is open or that temporary protected status is available,” Mr. Mayorkas said during a news conference on Monday in Del Rio, Texas. “I want to make sure that it is known that this is not the way to come to the United States.”
Officials at Haiti’s Embassy in Washington did not respond to messages for comment Thursday morning.