Haiti comes to Texas: Unbelievable pictures capture third world conditions in migrant camp under Del Rio bridge
Horrific photos have emerged of the squalid and fetid migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas that is currently home to thousands of Haitian migrants who've flocked to the US in the latest border crisis to hit Joe Biden.
Desperate migrants, many of them families with young children, are being forced to sleep on the dirty ground or - if they're fortunate - cardboard boxes folded out flat.
Many of the 8,600 who remain there have resorted to fashioning makeshift tents using discarded clothing and tree branches in order to provide at least some shelter from the elements. Some have attempted to
The heat has been punishing over the last week with temperatures soaring into the high 90s. Families have resorted to bathing in the grimy water of the Rio Grande river to cool off.
The squalor is more reminiscent of a Third World country than the land of the American dream, which thousands of migrants have fled to in the hopes of claiming asylum and building a better life.
Women and young children are seen lying on the ground of the camp among plastic bottles, empty Oreo packets and food containers
A young girl stands in the place that she currently calls home in a makeshift camp under the Del Rio bridge in Texas
A Haitian passport is seen in a pile of trash near the International Bridge between Mexico and the US Tuesday night
A migrant walks past a pile of garbage at the camp under the Del Rio bridge in Texas on the US-Mexico border Tuesday night
An aerial photo shows the huge piles of garbage which lie just steps away from the places young children sleep
Thousands are forced to sleep on the bare ground or on rugs laid among the debris of trees cut down to be used as shelter
Shocking images have emerged of the squalid and fetid migrant camp under the Del Rio bridge in Texas that is currently home to thousands of Haitian migrants
Empty water bottles, food containers and other litter is strewn around while mountains of garbage tower up high into the air.
An aerial photo shows the huge piles of garbage from above, which are seen just steps away from the places young children call home.
In another image, women and young children are seen lying among plastic bottles and an empty Oreo packet, on the ground which is covered in the remnants of trees that have been used to fashion the shelters.
Another photo shows a Haitian passport in a pile of trash including empty aluminum cans, an old shoe and discarded clothing.
The cramped conditions have also fueled fears of a COVID-19 outbreak - especially given that the migrants crossing the border are not required to be vaccinated before entering the US.
Almost 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants were camped out under the bridge at the weekend after crossing into the US from Mexico.
Many fled Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and have been living in South American countries including Brazil and Chile.
But since these nations have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, many Haitians have traveled up through South America and Mexico to seek asylum in the US.
President Biden has been blamed after a May proclamation that Haitians in the US would not be deported for 18 months because of instability in their home country, and could apply for documentation to work in the US.
That only applied to Haitians already in the US at the time, but thousands have since made the trip to the border in a bid to take advantage of it.
Most of them live in Chile and Brazil, having moved there after the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed 200,000.
Border Patrol agents struggling to process the vast numbers of people quickly enough set up the makeshift camp under the bridge as a temporary home.
Last week, concerns rose that there would not be enough food, water and basic supplies to provide for the thousands of migrants living at the site.
A woman and child try to shelter under a makeshift covering made from sticks and clothing as they wait to be processed
Desperate migrants, many of them families with young children, are being forced to sleep on the dirty ground or - if they're fortunate - cardboard boxes folded out flat
Empty water bottles, food containers and other litter is strewn around the makeshift camp site under the Texas bridge
Many have resorted to fashioning makeshift tents using discarded clothing and tree branches in order to provide at least some shelter from the elements
A child holds up a teddy bear as he prepares for another night camped out under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas, Tuesday
One of the more fortunate sleeps on an airbed surrounded while clothes are draped around and a little girl clutches a teddy
Instead, families were seen trudging back across the Rio Grande into Mexico to find basic supplies there and bring them back to their families in the Texas camp.
Jon Anfinsen, the top Border Patrol union official in the Del Rio Sector, revealed Friday there were just 20 portable toilets at the site to be used by the thousands of people.
Officials said more help was on the way at the weekend but the numbers of people still far outpace the supplies.
Concerns have also been raised about the treatment of the migrants after disturbing images surfaced of border agents appearing to use horse reins as whips on people trying to cross the border.
One video from Sunday shows agents on horseback, waiting on the US side of the Rio Grande as migrants - some of them families with young children - wade through chest-deep waters trying to cross.
Officers appear to charge their horses toward the migrants carrying food and supplies.
Some of them are swinging their reins, with one clip appearing to show a horse being used to push a migrant back into the water.
In one photo, a mounted agent appears to be grabbing a migrant by the shirt as he tries to flee.
Several Democrats have spoken out against the images, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki condemning the actions of the agents as 'horrific.'
Vice President Kamala Harris has demanded that Border Patrol agents treat migrants with 'dignity'.
'Yesterday, Vice President Harris spoke to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to receive an update about his trip to Del Rio,' Harris' chief spokesperson Symone Sanders said in a statement on Wednesday.
'During that call, the Vice President raised her grave concerns about the mistreatment of Haitian migrants by border patrol agents on horses, and the need of all CBP agents to treat people with dignity, humanely and consistent with our laws and our values.'
Around 8,600 migrants were still living in the camp Tuesday night - when the last tally was done - according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
This is down from the 15,000 peak at the weekend and comes as around 1,000 migrants have been sent back to Haiti since Joe Biden resumed deportation flights to the Caribbean nation Sunday.
Three flights deported 327 Haitian nationals from Del Rio back to the capital of Port-au-Prince Sunday.
Two flights deported 233 migrants Monday and 523 were flown out on four flights Tuesday, a source with knowledge of the matter told DailyMail.com.
In total, 1083 migrants have been deported in the last three days, suggesting up to 5,000 may have been released into the United States.
Another seven deportation flights were expected to expel further Haitian migrants Wednesday.
The squalor is more reminiscent of a Third World country than the land of the American dream, which thousands of migrants have fled to in the hopes of claiming asylum and building a better life
Clothes are draped around the area while cramped conditions have also fueled fears of a COVID-19 outbreak
Temporary dwellings made from carrizo cane stand in the migrant camp next to the US-Mexico border Tuesday
Garbage is strewn around the camp where some have managed to get tents to stay in which at least provide some escape from the elements
Migrants crossing the border are not required to be vaccinated before entering the US and the cramped camp is cause for concern
The deportation flights are being executed under the Donald Trump-era Title 42 rule, which means migrants can be repatriated to their home nations without the possibility of requesting asylum due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the number deported is far smaller than the change in number in the camp and officials with knowledge of the matter have said thousands had been freed into the US in recent days.
Many have been released with notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days, an outcome that requires less processing time from Border Patrol agents than ordering an appearance in immigration court and points to the speed at which authorities are moving, one official told Associated Press.
The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said.
They are then processed by the Border Patrol at those locations.
Joe Biden has come under fire from both sides of the political aisle over the situation in Del Rio and the deportation flights.
In May, the Biden administration's DHS designated Haiti for temporary protected status (TPS) as the nation was in the grips of 'human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.'
Under TPS, foreign nationals cannot be deported back to countries hit by natural or manmade disasters, enabling Haitians to live in the US without legal status to qualify for provisional residency.
Then, in August - following the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise in July and the earthquake which killed more than 2,000 people the next month - extended and expanded the TPS further.
A statement on the Department of Homeland Security's website stipulates that the TPS rule only applies to Haitians already in the United States when the announcement was made in May, and that Haitians who subsequently tried to travel to the US would not be allowed to benefit from the new rule.
It is unclear how the United States is able to differentiate between Haitians who illegally entered the country before and after the TPS proclamation was made.
The camp is seen along the side and beneath the Del Rio bride in Texas where around 8,000 are still living in squalor
Almost 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants were camped out under the bridge at the weekend after crossing into the US
Migrants are forced to wash in the Rio Grande river while they stay in the makeshift camp under the bridge in Texas
Haitian migrants are pictured on the banks of the Rio Grande in Del Rio, Texas, after crossing from Mexico into the US
Republicans blame this pause on deportation flights for the surge in Haitians crossing into the US, arguing that this led Haitians to believe they would get asylum in America - when in fact it only applies to Haitians already residing in the US.
Democrats, meanwhile, are slamming Biden after he resumed deportation flights Sunday, sending people back to a nation that is unable to take them.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded the Biden administration stop the flights and cease using Title 42 on the Senate floor Tuesday saying it defies 'common decency'.
Last Thursday, a federal judge blocked the Biden administration from using Title 42 to expel migrant families but the order takes 14 days to take effect and the administration appealed the ruling the next day.
This week, further outrage surfaced after images went viral of Border Patrol agents on horseback appearing to whip migrants with horse reins.
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