Haitian deportees arrive back in home country

The U.S. deported more than 300 Haitians back to their home country Sunday as the federal government copes with a major spike in border arrivals in the small community of Del Rio, Texas.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced this Saturday, saying it would “accelerate” efforts to remove the migrants.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will within 24 to 48 hours deploy 400 additional agents to the Del Rio sector, the area which has been the centre of the migrant surge, DHS said in a statement.

“The Biden Administration has reiterated that our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey.

“Individuals and families are subject to border restrictions, including expulsion,” DHS said.

The agency announced steps it was taking to handle the surge of Haitian migrants at the Texas border with Mexico, including speeding up their removal and return to Haiti.

“DHS will secure additional transportation to accelerate the pace and increase the capacity of removal flights to Haiti and other destinations in the hemisphere within the next 72 hours,” DHS said.

The Del Rio port of entry has been temporarily closed after thousands of people sought to enter the United States in that area this week.

Meanwile, Haitian authorities said they would do what they could for the deportees, but pointedly said they were being repatriated against their will.

“These people do not accept the forced flight back to Haiti,” Jean Negot Bonheur Delva, head of Haiti’s migration office, told reporters in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, adding that his team expected flights to ramp up to as many as six per day by Tuesday.

“For these people, Haiti is hell,” he said.

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