HOUSTON — U.S. officials say many Haitian migrants camped in the Texas border town of Del Rio are being released to other cities in the United States, according to a report from The Associated Press.
This new report undercuts the Biden administration’s public statements that Haitians who enter the country illegally face immediate expulsion.
A Del Rio nonprofit called Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition is arranging transportation for the migrants, 95 percent of whom are Haitian. One official told KHOU 11 News that at least one bus was headed to Houston, with more leaving later today.
KHOU 11's Adam Bennett is in Del Rio and saw six Border Patrol vans dropping off migrants at the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition in a two-hour period.
The nonprofit said they saw 388 migrants Tuesday and 277 on Monday. Last August, they averaged 118 people per day.
Some of those being released that are heading to Houston will arrive at a transitional center where they will stay during a search for U.S. relatives to house them.
The group Houston Haitians United is now looking for volunteers to help cook, translate and provide other services.
One official told The Associated Press that Haitians have been freed on a “very, very large scale” in recent days, many of them with notices to appear at an immigration office.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
The releases come despite a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights to Haiti under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants an opportunity to seek asylum.