For days, thousands of migrants from Haiti have been waiting under a bridge in Texas. Now explosive videos and pictures of US border guards are causing outrage – and increasing the pressure on the Biden government.
In the US there is great horror at the recent recordings from the migrant camp on the US southern border in Texas. Videos from the border town of Del Rio show how mounted US border guards round up the arriving people while shouting. Pictures show officials who threateningly swing lassos and get violent. The recordings put the US government in need of explanation.
“People should never be treated that way,” said US Vice President Kamala Harris. The pictures are “terrible”. Any mistreatment of a migrant is unacceptable, said Minister of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and announced an investigation into the incidents. The White House said US President Joe Biden found the videos and photos “appalling”. They don’t represent who you are as a country.
The situation in Del Rio had become extremely acute in the last few days. Almost 15,000 people – most of them from Haiti – came from Mexico over the Rio Grande to Texas and have been under a bridge ever since. After the mayor of Del Rio sent a call for help to Washington in the face of the onslaught, the administration of US President Biden consistently relies on mass deportations. According to Texas Governor Greg Abott, 8,600 people stayed in makeshift tents on Tuesday in temperatures of over 30 degrees.
Criticism of the Biden government from all sides
In view of the chaos on its own border, domestic political pressure on the Biden government is growing. While Republicans accuse the White House of having too lax immigration policies, many Democrats condemn the mass expulsions. “This is an eyesore on our country,” said Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Senate Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer called on Biden to end the policies of his predecessor Donald Trump. The migrants “just want to escape the tyranny and problems in their country” and would “have been received on our doorstep with unimaginable humiliation”. Schumer criticized the expulsions to Haiti: “We cannot continue this hateful (…) Trump policy that disregards our refugee laws.”
The Trump administration introduced the so-called Title 42 rule at the beginning of the pandemic and used it to largely seal off the borders. Since then, migrants have been expelled on the grounds that there is a risk of Covid-19 being introduced – without being given the opportunity to apply for asylum. Under Biden, the rule was extended with the exception of unaccompanied minors. However, critics accuse the government of using the pandemic as an excuse to deport people without adequate scrutiny and court hearing. Applying for asylum is a fundamental human right, stressed the spokeswoman for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Shabia Mantoo. “We call for this right to be respected.”
In a letter to Biden, several human rights organizations condemned the treatment of migrants by the US Border Guard: “White (and white-presenting) men on horseback with lassos chasing, shouting and abusing defenseless black asylum seekers who come here for weeks and months fled where they thought they would be safe. The actions of these border guards are shameful and show indifference to the humanity of black migrants. “
The United Nations also sharply criticized the behavior of the US government and warned of a possible violation of international law. UN Refugee Commissioner Filippo Grandi said he was “shocked by the pictures of the deplorable conditions” in Del Rio. Without examining the migrants’ need for protection, mass deportations are “incompatible with international norms,” stressed Grandi. “We are seriously concerned about the fact that there appears to be no case-by-case review,” said UN Human Rights Commissioner spokeswoman Marta Hurtado.
“Our borders are not open”
As Texas Governor Greg Abbott openly announced, “unprecedented methods” are now being used against migrants at the border. This includes a “steel barrier that prevents people from crossing the border,” said the Republican at a press conference in Del Rio. The barrier consists of vehicles from US authorities that lined up for miles on the banks of the Rio Grande River. “This strategy works,” said Abbott and took the opportunity to also hand out against the Biden government. “When you have a government that is not enforcing the law in this country, that has given up any pretext to secure the border and our sovereignty, you see the onslaught of people like we see right behind me,” Abbott said.
During his visit to Del Rio on Monday, Minister of Homeland Security Mayorkas again appealed to Haitians not to make the dangerous journey to the US southern border with Mexico. “Our borders are not open,” emphasized Mayorkas. The minister stated that everyone should be sent back to their countries of origin. According to media reports, Mexico has also started to fly Haitians out of the border region – albeit to the south of Mexico. How it will go with them there is still unclear.
Most of the people did not come directly from Haiti, but from South American countries such as Brazil and Chile. Many had already left their homeland after the devastating earthquake of 2010. However, when the false rumor spread that the Biden government would take in more people, many of them headed north. The background to this is that the TPS program for Haitians, among others, has been extended in the USA, which grants temporary residence permits – but only for those who have already been to the States. The Haitians were deceived, said Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
Sources: “”, with DPA
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