Reporters ponder why Haitians are treated differently than other migrants

AP Photo/Felix Marquez

The Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration is seriously stepping up its efforts to clear more than 15,000 Haitian illegal immigrants out of the area around Del Rio, Texas. As we’ve discussed here previously, this is one of the most intense and concentrated efforts at clearing out a specific group of migrants that’s been seen in a very long time indeed. Nearly all of them are missing out on the opportunities afforded to illegal aliens from other countries who have vastly expanded the Biden border crisis, frequently being allowed to simply cross the border, talk to the Border Patrol and be released into the country’s interior. This treatment of the Haitians seems to be raising questions for at least some of the reporters covering the story. What is it about this particular group that makes them so unwelcome in the eyes of the Biden administration? The Associated Press looks at some of the most recent news this week and reviews the options.

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More than 6,000 Haitians and other migrants had been removed from an encampment at Del Rio, Texas, U.S. officials said Monday as they defended a strong response that included immediately expelling migrants to their impoverished Caribbean country and faced criticism for using horse patrols to stop them from entering the town.

That was enough for some Haitian migrants to return to Mexico, while others struggled to decide on which side of the border to take their chances.

Marie Pierre, 43, stood on the Mexican side of the river as night fell with hundreds of other migrants unsure what to do. She said Border Patrol agents had separated her from her 19-year-old son in Texas and she didn’t know if he had been deported or not. She waited for a chance to charge her phone, hoping to get news from her sister and cousin in Florida.

Thus far, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has only gone so far as to call this a “challenging and heartbreaking situation.” But he immediately followed that up with a warning, telling the people of Haiti that if they come here illegally they will be returned.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not suddenly opposed to our borders being secured or our immigration laws being enforced. But doesn’t this just seem out of character for Joe Biden and his team? From the moment he was sworn into office, it seemed as if Biden had never met an illegal alien he didn’t like. He issued a moratorium on deportations and loosened all of the procedures for processing the people swarming over the border at his invitation. And yet now we see what appears to be the cavalry chasing Haitians back across the river and reportedly beating them with whips and lassos.

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Even the ones who elect to stay on the Mexican side of the border are being treated as unwelcome guests. Mexico announced that they are also flying Haitian migrants back to their home country, generally without the chance to request asylum. If your argument in favor of compassion for illegal aliens from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries is that conditions are too terrible in Honduras and Guatemala for these people to bear, it’s pretty tough to deny that the same can be said about Haiti. Between the earthquakes, the pandemic and their own corrupt government, it really does seem to be one of those countries that the previous president would have described with an expletive.

I’ve yet to see anyone put this question directly to Jen Psaki, though perhaps it happened and I missed it. It’s more time-consuming and expensive to deport Haitians to their own country than it is to simply drop people off across the border in Mexico. We can’t be doing this as a cost-saving measure. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Speaking of the “cost” of handling the Haitian migrants, not all of the expenses are measured in dollars and cents. Biden’s team has brought in so many extra border security personnel to tackle this challenge at Del Rio that large stretches of the rest of the border are now virtually unguarded. And the coyotes have noticed. (Free Beacon)

The Department of Homeland Security’s plan to send hundreds of Border Patrol agents to Del Rio, Texas, is leaving large swaths of the U.S.-Mexico border wide open, according to interviews with officials from both agencies.

In response to the surge of mostly Haitian nationals swarming the southern border, DHS committed to moving “400 [Customs and Border Protection] agents and officers” to the Del Rio sector in order to accelerate processing and deportations. DHS will not disclose where those extra agents are coming from, although one Border Patrol agent who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon said DHS requested 30 agents from his outpost in the southwest to be transferred to Del Rio. The plan threatens to exacerbate the existing border crisis in other parts of the country.

“We’re already so stretched thin,” the individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. “This puts so much more strain on our normal border patrol work.”

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So we’re focusing so much manpower on Del Rio that illegal aliens are streaming in from Mexico along the rest of the border? We’re plugging one hole while opening up a path for thousands of others to simply walk across and disappear. Will this same level of effort in capturing them and sending them directly home be expended for these latest intruders? Somehow that seems very unlikely. There’s more to this story than we’re being told.

Either way, when it comes to our immigration and border policies, we reach the same conclusion yet again. Heck of a job, Joe.

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