CIUDAD ACUÑA, Mexico — A camp where more than 14,000 migrants had waited along the Texas border just days ago is now dramatically smaller. But across the river in Mexico, migrants in a growing camp awoke Thursday surrounded by security forces.
According to both the Associated Press and the Dallas Morning News, the number of migrants at a makeshift camp under the international bridge in Del Rio, Texas, had shrunk to about 4,000 people by Thursday. The camp peaked at about 15,000 last weekend.
Immigration officials have reduced the size of the camp by processing about 3,200 migrants into the U.S. and sending others back to Haiti. According to the AP, about 1,400 migrants were sent back to Haiti on a series of 13 flights this week.
Another "several thousand" have crossed back over the Rio Grande and returned to Mexico. According to The Dallas Morning News, many crossed the river after hearing other migrants had been expelled back to Haiti. The newspaper reports that "most will presumably seek another opportunity to enter the U.S."
The U.S. is also in talks with Brazil in Chile to allow some Haitians who had previously been living in those countries to return, according to the AP.
Those still remaining at the U.S. encampment are being provided with food and medical care if they need it.
Both governments appear eager to end the increasingly politicized humanitarian situation at the border.
On Thursday, the Biden administration's special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, submitted a letter of resignation protesting the "inhumane" large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants.
