US launches mass expulsion of Haitian migrants from Texas, likely biggest in decades
- US removing migrants from Texas border camp, begins flights to Haiti
- Camp under Texas bridge attracted more than 12,000 migrants
The US flew Haitians camped in a Texas border town back to their homeland on Sunday and tried blocking others from crossing the border from Mexico in a massive show of force that signalled the beginning of what could be one of America’s swiftest, large-scale expulsions of migrants or refugees in decades.
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 Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
