U.S. expels hundreds of Haitian migrants from border as surge in the south continues

The Biden administration has begun to deport hundreds of Haitians migrants who had been camping under a bridge in Texas close to the U.S.-Mexican border.

More than 320 migrants arrived in Port-au-Prince aboard three flights from the U.S., according an AP report from early Monday morning. Half a dozen more flights are expected later this week. 

As a flood of illegal migrants continues to surge at the U.S.-Mexican, border patrol authorities say they are aiming to deport most of the close to 12,000 migrants who are currently camped under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. 

For days, the migrants have been struggling to survive in squalid and rapidly deteriorating conditions, most without food or clean water. Raul Ortiz, the Border Patrol Chief said over the weekend that his agency is "working around the clock" to move migrants out of the brutal elements and to "quickly process and remove individuals from the United States" in a manner that is consistent with U.S. law and policy. 

U.S. Border Patrol says it is sending 400 additional enforcement officers to the area this week in an effort to improve conditions and control of the region.

An increased number of Haitian migrants have arrived at the U.S. southern border in the past weeks as the small island nation continues to suffer from economic and political turmoil due to the recent (of yet unsolved) assassination of their president, and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck earlier this summer.