DEL RIO, Texas: The US flew Haitians camped in a Texas border town back to their homeland Sunday and tried blocking others from crossing the border from Mexico in a massive show of force that signaled the beginning of what could be one of America’s swiftest, large-scale expulsions of migrants or refugees in decades.
More than 320 migrants arrived in Port-au-Prince on three flights, and Haiti said six flights were expected Tuesday. In all, US authorities moved to expel many of the more 12,000 migrants camped around a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, after crossing from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico.
The US plans to begin seven expulsion flights daily on Wednesday, four to Port-au-Prince and three to Cap-Haitien, according to a US official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Flights will continue to depart from San Antonio but authorities may add El Paso, the official said.
The only obvious parallel for such an expulsion without an opportunity to seek asylum was in 1992 when the Coast Guard intercepted Haitian refugees at sea, said Yael Schacher, senior US advocate at Refugees International whose doctoral studies focused on the history of US asylum law.
Similarly large numbers of Mexicans have been sent home during peak years of immigration but over land and not so suddenly.
Central Americans have also crossed the border in comparable numbers without being subject to mass expulsion, although Mexico has agreed to accept them from the US under pandemic-related authority in effect since March 2020. Mexico does not accept expelled Haitians or people of other nationalities outside of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
When the border was closed Sunday, the migrants initially found other ways to cross nearby until they were confronted by federal and state law enforcement. An Associated Press reporter saw Haitian immigrants still crossing the river into the US about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) east of the previous spot, but they were eventually stopped by Border Patrol agents on horseback and Texas law enforcement officials.
As they crossed, some Haitians carried boxes on their heads filled with food. Some removed their pants before getting into the river and carried them. Others were unconcerned about getting wet.
Agents yelled at the migrants who were crossing in the waist-deep river to get out of the water. The several hundred who had successfully crossed and were sitting along the river bank on the US side were ordered to the Del Rio camp. “Go now,” agents yelled. Mexican authorities in an airboat told others trying to cross to go back into Mexico.
Migrant Charlie Jean had crossed back into Ciudad Acuña from the camps to get food for his wife and three daughters, ages 2, 5 and 12. He was waiting on the Mexican side for a restaurant to bring him an order of rice.
“We need food for every day. I can go without, but my kids can’t,” said Jean, who had been living in Chile for five years before beginning the trek north to the US It was unknown if he made it back across and to the camp.
Mexico said Sunday it would also begin deporting Haitians to their homeland. A government official said the flights would be from towns near the US border and the border with Guatemala, where the largest group remains.
Haitians have been migrating to the US in large numbers from South America for several years, many having left their Caribbean nation after a devastating 2010 earthquake. After jobs dried up from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, many made the dangerous trek by foot, bus and car to the US border, including through the infamous Darien Gap, a Panamanian jungle.
Some of the migrants at the Del Rio camp said the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse make them afraid to return to a country that seems more unstable than when they left.
“In Haiti, there is no security,” said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who arrived in Texas with his wife and two daughters. “The country is in a political crisis.”
Since Friday, 3,300 migrants have already been removed from the Del Rio camp to planes or detention centers, Border Patrol Chief Raul L. Ortiz said Sunday. He expected to have 3,000 of the approximately 12,600 remaining migrants moved within a day, and aimed for the rest to be gone within the week.
“We are working around the clock to expeditiously move migrants out of the heat, elements and from underneath this bridge to our processing facilities in order to quickly process and remove individuals from the United States consistent with our laws and our policies,” Ortiz said at news conference at the Del Rio bridge. The Texas city of about 35,000 people sits roughly 145 miles (230 kilometers) west of San Antonio.
Six flights were scheduled in Haiti on Tuesday — three in Port-au-Prince and three in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, said Jean Négot Bonheur Delva, Haiti’s migration director.
The rapid expulsions were made possible by a pandemic-related authority adopted by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 that allows for migrants to be immediately removed from the country without an opportunity to seek asylum. President Joe Biden exempted unaccompanied children from the order but let the rest stand.
Any Haitians not expelled are subject to immigration laws, which include rights to seek asylum and other forms of humanitarian protection. Families are quickly released in the US because the government cannot generally hold children.
Some people arriving on the first flight covered their heads as they walked into a large bus parked next to the plane. Dozens lined up to receive a plate of rice, beans, chicken and plantains as they wondered where they would sleep and how they would make money to support their families.
All were given $100 and tested for COVID-19, though authorities were not planning to put them into quarantine, said Marie-Lourde Jean-Charles with the Office of National Migration.
Gary Monplaisir, 26, said his parents and sister live in Port-au-Prince, but he wasn’t sure if he would stay with them because to reach their house he, his wife and their 5-year-old daughter would cross a gang-controlled area called Martissant where killings are routine.
“I’m scared,” he said. “I don’t have a plan.”
He moved to Chile in 2017, just as he was about to earn an accounting degree, to work as a tow truck driver. He later paid for his wife and daughter to join him. They tried to reach the US because he thought he could get a better-paying job and help his family in Haiti.
“We’re always looking for better opportunities,” he said.
Some migrants said they were planning to leave Haiti again as soon as possible. Valeria Ternission, 29, said she and her husband want to travel with their 4-year-old son back to Chile, where she worked as a bakery’s cashier.
“I am truly worried, especially for the child,” she said. “I can’t do anything here.”
US launches mass expulsion of Haitian migrants from Texas
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US launches mass expulsion of Haitian migrants from Texas
- More 12,000 migrants, mostly Haitians, had camped around a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, after crossing from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico
European leaders condemn killing of Israeli embassy staffers in Washington
- Two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington were fatally shot while leaving an event at a Jewish museum
European leaders issued strong condemnations Thursday following the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, denouncing the act as a barbaric expression of anti-Semitic violence.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was “shocked” by the incident, which occurred late Wednesday. “There is no justification for anti-Semitic violence,” he posted on X.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called the attack “an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity.” He wrote on X: “The murder of two members of the Israeli embassy near the Jewish Museum in Washington is an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity. Nothing can justify such violence.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani “forcefully” condemned the shooting, describing it as having caused “scenes of terror and violence.” Posting on X, he warned that “anti-Semitism... must be stopped. The horrors of the past must not return.”
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, also expressed shock, emphasizing that “there is and should be no place in our societies for hatred, extremism, or anti-Semitism.” She extended her condolences to the victims’ families and to the people of Israel.
Netanyahu says ordered enhanced security at Israel missions worldwide
- The measure came after a gunman who shouted shot dead two embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has ordered enhanced security measures at Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide after a gunman who shouted shot dead two embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington.
“I have instructed to enhance security arrangements at Israeli missions around the world and to increase protection for state representatives,” he said.
“We are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and the wild incitement against the State of Israel.”
Gunfire broke out late Wednesday outside the Capital Jewish Museum in the center of Washington as the venue held a social event for young professionals and diplomatic staff.
A video clip circulating on social media showed a young bearded man in a jacket and white shirt shouting “free, free Palestine” as he was led away by police.
The victims were a young couple who planned to get married, according to the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “devastated” by the fatal attack but said the two countries would “stand united in defense of our people.”
“This is a despicable act of hatred, of anti-Semitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy,” Herzog said.
“America and Israel will stand united in defense of our people and our shared values. Terror and hate will not break us.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar too pledged that Israel would not give into “terror,” saying he was “horrified” by the attack.
“Israeli representatives around the world are constantly exposed to heightened risk — especially in these times,” he said.
“We are in close contact with American authorities. Israel will not surrender to terror.”
UK court puts last-minute block on a deal to hand Chagos islands to Mauritius
- In 1965 Britain detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory
- The agreement was due to be signed Thursday morning at a virtual ceremony
LONDON: A British court blocked the UK from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, to Mauritius, hours before the agreement was due to be signed on Thursday.
The UK has agreed to hand sovereignty to Mauritius of the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is home to a strategically important naval and bomber base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. The UK would then lease back the base for at least 99 years.
US President Donald Trump’s administration, which was consulted on the deal, gave its approval, but finalizing the agreement was delayed by last-minute negotiations over costs.
The agreement was due to be signed Thursday morning at a virtual ceremony.
But a High Court judge granted an injunction in the early hours of Thursday putting a hold on the agreement. It came in response to a claim by two of the original residents of the islands.
The Chagos islanders, many of whom relocated to Britain in the 1960s and 70s to make way for the Diego Garcia base, say they were not consulted over the agreement
In 1965 Britain detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius — a former colony that became independent three years later — to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Financial details of the deal have not been set out.
Media reports have put the cost to Britain at £9 billion.
Somalia climate shocks and aid cuts create perfect storm
- After his home in the Somali capital was battered by torrential rains, Mohamed Abdukadir Teesto worries about his future at a time when local and foreign aid is vanishing
MOGADISHU: After his home in the Somali capital was battered by torrential rains, Mohamed Abdukadir Teesto worries about his future at a time when local and foreign aid is vanishing.
The Horn of Africa nation is among the most vulnerable to climate change, according to the United Nations, and in the last five years has experienced both the worst drought in 40 years and once-in-a-century flooding.
The more severe weather compounds the insecurity many Somalis face after decades of violent insurgency and political instability.
“We have cleaned our house using our bare hands,” Teesto, 43, told AFP, saying neither international agencies nor the government had offered any assistance.
“Some families who had their houses destroyed are still displaced and cannot come back,” he said. “If it rains again, we will have the same situation.”
Teesto is among around 24,000 people in the Banadir region, which includes Mogadishu, impacted by flooding this month that killed at least 17.
Humanitarian work in Somalia was already under-funded before the halt of aid programs under the US Agency for International Development (USAID), made by President Donald Trump upon his return to the White House.
The UN says its humanitarian needs for the year — estimated at $1.4 billion — are only 12 percent funded so far.
“This can get very, very bad, very quickly,” said Sara Cuevas Gallardo, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, which handles roughly 90 percent of food security assistance in Somalia.
“We don’t know if we have the capacity,” she said.
This month, CARE International said Somalia had 1.8 million severely malnourished children under five, with 479,000 at risk of dying without urgent help.
Cuevas Gallardo said Somalia could see a return to the situation in 2020-2023 when it was on the brink of famine.
The difference being that now “we don’t have the funds to actually act when we have to,” she said.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has repeatedly warned about the link between climate change and conflict.
Recent attacks are stoking fears of a resurgence by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, adding to the displacement and vulnerability caused by weather problems.
Globally, the main driver of hunger is conflict, Cuevas Gallardo said.
“If it’s mixed with the uncertainty of climate shocks in Somalia, then it just equals more food needs, more hunger, more people on the move, and us being unable to respond to that uncertainty as well.”
The WFP is not alone in its warnings.
British charity Save the Children said last week that funding shortfalls would force it to shut more than a quarter of the health and nutrition facilities it runs in Somalia in the coming weeks.
They include every single one in the central city of Baidoa.
It shared the story of Fatima and her one-year-old son, who fled their village after successive droughts damaged crops and killed their livestock.
“If we were not able to get medicines and nutrition support here, we would have no other option but to see our children dying in front of us,” Save the Children quoted the 25-year-old as saying.
The charity said that the current period always sees an uptick in malnourishment but this year it expects an 11-percent increase in malnutrition, leaving remaining facilities “stretched to breaking point.”
At a clinic in Baidoa, doctor Mustafa Mohammed said they have already seen a surge in patients and that closure would be grave.
“There is nowhere else for these children to go.”
Philippine president calls for all Cabinet secretaries to resign after election setbacks
- At least 21 Cabinet secretaries either immediately submitted their resignations or expressed their readiness to do so
- Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: ‘This is not about personalities – it’s about performance, alignment and urgency’
MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked all of his Cabinet secretaries to submit resignations on Thursday in a “bold reset” of his administration following last week’s mid-term elections, which saw more opposition candidates win crucial Senate seats.
Marcos, the 67-year-old son of a late Philippine dictator overthrown in 1986, won the presidency in the deeply divided Southeast Asian country by a landslide in 2022 in a stunning political comeback as he made a steadfast call for national unity. But his equally popular vice presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, later broke from him in a falling out that has sparked intense political discord.
With support from treaty ally the United States and other friendly countries, Marcos emerged as the most vocal critic of China ‘s growing aggression in the disputed South China Sea while contending with an array of longstanding domestic issues, including inflation — and delayed fulfillment of a campaign promise to bring down the price of rice — as well as many reports of kidnappings and other crimes.
“This is not business as usual,” Marcos was cited as saying in a government statement. “The people have spoken and they expect results — not politics, not excuses. We hear them and we will act.”
Marcos called for the “courtesy resignation of all Cabinet secretaries in a decisive move to recalibrate his administration following the results of the recent elections,” the government statement said.
“The request for courtesy resignations is aimed at giving the president the elbow room to evaluate the performance of each department and determine who will continue to serve in line with his administration’s recalibrated priorities,” the government said.
At least 21 Cabinet secretaries led by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin either immediately submitted their resignations or expressed their readiness to do so.
“This is not about personalities — it’s about performance, alignment and urgency,” Marcos said. “Those who have delivered and continue to deliver will be recognized. But we cannot afford to be complacent. The time for comfort zones is over.”
Government services will remain uninterrupted during the transition, the government said, adding that “with this bold reset, the Marcos administration signals a new phase — sharper, faster and fully focused on the people’s most pressing needs.”
Five out of the 12 Senate seats contested in the mid-term elections were won by allies of Sara Duterte or her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been arrested and detained by the International Criminal Court in The Hague in the Netherlands. The elder Duterte, a staunch critic of Marcos, was accused of committing crimes against humanity over a brutal anti-drugs crackdown he launched that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead.
Marcos-endorsed senatorial candidates won five Senate seats while two other seats were unexpectedly won by two liberal democrats associated with the late former President Benigno Aquino III, whose family has long been at odds with the Marcoses.
Voting for half of the 24-member Senate is crucial because the government body will hold an impeachment trial for Sara Duterte in July over an array of criminal allegations, including corruption and a public threat to assassinate Marcos, his wife and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. She made those threats in an online news conference in November but later issued a vague denial that she wanted the president killed.
Sara Duterte is facing a separate criminal complaint for her threats against the Marcoses and Romualdez.
Most of the seats in the House were won by candidates allied with Marcos and his cousin, Romualdez, in the May 12 elections, which many saw as a preview to the presidential elections scheduled for 2028.
