Drone footage shows more than 12,000 migrants sheltering in squalid conditions under the Del Rio International Bridge
Such transfers will continue "in order to ensure that irregular migrants are swiftly taken into custody, processed, and removed from the United States consistent with our laws and policy," DHS said in a statement.
DHS added it was working with nations where the migrants began their journeys - for many of the Haitians, countries such as Brazil and Chile - to accept returned migrants. Officials on both sides of the border said most of the migrants were Haitians. Del Rio's mayor, Bruno Lozano, said in a video on Saturday night that there were now just over 14,000 migrants under the bridge.
Vargas said they had been given ticket number 16,000 and authorities were currently processing number 9,800. He said people were being separated into three groups: single men, single women and families. Typically, migrants who arrive at the border and turn themselves in to officials can claim asylum if they fear being returned to their home country, triggering a long court process. The Trump administration whittled away at protections, arguing many asylum claims were false.
A mass expulsion of Haitians at Del Rio is sure to anger immigration advocates who say such returns are inhumane considering the conditions in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. In July, Haiti's president was assassinated, and in August a major earthquake and powerful storm hit the country.
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