Mystery of the 5,000 missing Haitians migrants: DHS reveals 12 flights have removed 1,401 migrants, with 3,206 still in US custody and 5,000 under Texas bridge - but there were 15,000 to start!
Fears have been raised that 5,000 Haitian migrants could have been released into the US after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released figures Thursday showing they are processing only 10,000 of an estimated 15,000.
The figures, that were finally released after days of requests from reporters, show that 1,401 were sent back to Haiti on 12 flights, 3,206 remained in custody, and 5,000 are camped out beneath the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said there were up to 15,000 immigrants but as of Tuesday, that number dropped to 10,000.
The DHS has so far refused to clarify how many the remaining number have been released into the US and how many turned back at the border on their own.
Officials revealed two day ago that immigrants are simply being released ‘on a very, very large scale’ rather than deported.
It is also feared that the 3,206 in custody might not be deported and could also be released.
Those 3,206 Haitian migrants have either been moved to custody under Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or to other sectors of the border to either be expelled or placed into removal proceedings.
DHS could not immediately be reached for comment.
This year alone, around 1.3 million migrants were apprehended by Customs and Border Protection.
Migrants, many from Haiti, are seen in an encampment along the Del Rio International Bridge near the Rio Grande, Thursday, Sept. 23
At White House press secretary Jen Psaki's daily press briefing on Wednesday, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy confronted her on the yet-to-be-released numbers after Mayorkas revealed during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that he did not know the figures.
'So who else can we ask?' Doocy asked.
When the press secretary attempted to direct him back to DHS, Doocy replied, 'He says he doesn't know.'
'I am confident that he wanted to have the most up-to-date numbers and we will venture to get you those – I promise, this afternoon,' Psaki vowed.
In a follow-up question Doocy asked if the issue is that the administration doesn't know or if they don't want to reveal figures because 'a lot more people are being released into the U.S. than are being sent out.'
'That is certainly not the issue,' Psaki said.
It is still not clear when those figures will actually become public.
Mayorkas, meanwhile, was at the Capitol Wednesday for his second day of back-to-back congressional hearings – this time before a House committee.
Republican Florida Representative Carlos Gimenez asked Mayorkas today about how many of the migrants apprehended at the border this year were detained, returned or 'dispersed.'
'I would be pleased to provide you with specific data subsequent to this hearing, congressman,' Mayorkas answered.
Gimenez accused Mayorkas of being unprepared for the hearing, to which the DHS chief snapped about his long work hours.
'I work 18 hours a day, OK? So when I returned from yesterday's hearing, I actually focused on mission. We will get that data, both to the senator who posed it yesterday and to you, congressman, today,' he said.
It follows on from Tuesday's hearing before the Senate when Mayorkas still could not provide migrant data.
'I want some numbers here. Of the 1.3 million people that we've apprehended, how many people have been returned? How many people are being detained? How many people have been dispersed to all points around America?' Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked the secretary during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.
A girl with Barbie dolls stuffed in her boots waits with others to cross the Rio Grande river with their parents as they stand on the bank of the Rio Grande river in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, at dawn Thursday, Sept. 23
DHS Secretary Mayorkas was grilled by lawmakers in back-to-back congressional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday
'Senator, I would be pleased to provide you with that data — ' Mayorkas said before he was cut off.
'I want them now,' Johnson demanded. 'Why don't you have that information now?'
'Senator, I do not have that data before me,' Mayorkas replied.
'Why not? Why don't you have that basic information?' the senator asked.
'Senator, I want to be accurate,' Mayorkas said.
The secretary revealed Tuesday that around 5,000 migrants have been removed from the encampment surrounding the Del Rio International Bridge as DHS launches a probe into agents on horseback using what appeared to be whips against the mostly Haitian migrants.
'How many migrants have crossed into the United States in Del Rio over the past week?' Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley asked Mayorkas.
'So last week, I think the high point was 13,000-15,000 – it is now well below 10,000. We continue to move individuals from Del Rio to other processing centers to facilitate their repatriation,' the DHS secretary responded.
'We have increased the number of repatriation flights to Haiti and to other countries,' Mayorkas added as it was revealed this week DHS is aiming to send out several deportation flights per day.
Migrants stand in line while awaiting transport out of a border makeshift camp along the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on September 22
A photo from Wednesday shows migrants being routed out of a makeshift border camp after being processed by US officials. The White House has pledged to deport most of the migrants back to Haiti under Title 42, but reports indicate that's not the case for some being released
U.S. Border Patrol agents ride near a migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas on September 22
Mayorkas also refused to say whether he felt he and the Biden administration bear any responsibility for the influx of Haitian migrants over the last few weeks or the broader border crisis in general.
The DHS chief visited the border after increasing pressure to do so as images of mostly Haitian migrants in a tent city under the Del Rio bridge spurred accusations the Biden administration was enabling a humanitarian crisis.
The administration used the Trump-era Title 42 policy as a shield, claiming migrants would be sent back to the Caribbean country, which is still reeling from a deadly earthquake and political instability following the assassination of its president.
Under Title 42, migrants can be repatriated to their home nations without the possibility of requesting asylum due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, officials told DailyMail.com that thousands of Haitian migrants are being freed into the US on a 'very, very large scale' rather than being flown out on the deportation flights.
Two US officials with knowledge of the situation in Del Rio - where a peak of around 14,600 mostly Haitian migrants were camped out under a bridge at the weekend after crossing into the US from Mexico - said thousands have been released into the US with notices to appear at an immigration court in 60 days' time under the so-called 'catch and release' scheme.
Others have been sent on buses and planes to other parts of the US to be processed by Border Patrol agents there, they said.
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