The Biden administration is prioritizing all single adults and some families who do not claim asylum in its deportation of thousands of Haitians who have been camped out under a bridge in Texas, NBC News reported.
Two senior officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told NBC that unaccompanied children and some families will be permitted to stay in the U.S. and given asylum hearings.
The Hill has reached out to DHS and the White House for comment.
The expulsion of thousands of Haitians began this week, with more than 300 people sent to Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince on Sunday. U.S. Border Patrol has said it’s aiming to deport the majority of the roughly 12,000 Haitian migrants who have been sheltering under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, since crossing into the U.S from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico.
Haiti has been thrown into disarray in the past few months with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July and a 7.2 earthquake the following month.
NBC noted that many of the Haitians being sent home have not been back to the country since fleeing after the devastating 2010 earthquake.
A DHS official told the news network that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be flying six to eight deportation flights a day starting on Tuesday.
DHS announced Monday that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will be visiting Del Rio later in the day to receive a briefing on the situation.