Al Sharpton's press conference at the Haitian migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas descended into farce on Thursday, as hecklers cut him ...
Al Sharpton's press conference at the Haitian migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas descended into farce on Thursday, as hecklers cut him short, accusing him of exploiting the crisis.
Sharpton was forced to end his speech after just over two minutes, as he was shouted down by furious hecklers with one yelling, 'we don't want your racism in Texas'.
The squalid border camp which held up to 15,000 at one point last weekend has now shrunk to under 3,000, as immigration officials rushed to release thousands of migrants into the US, but another camp is growing across the Rio Grande in Mexico.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday that as many as 2,000 Haitians had been released into the US pending hearings - but failed to reveal where a further 3,000 are.
At his disastrous press conference, Sharpton began his statement by slamming US Customs and Border Patrol for using 'slave-like tactics' against the migrants.
Civil rights activist and MSNBC host Al Sharpton shut down a press conference at the southern border encampment in Del Rio, Texas Thursday after being consistently heckled
Demonstrators protest the arrival of civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton at the Del Rio International Airport on Thursday
Even as Sharpton spoke, the migrant camp in Del Rio had largely been cleared out, with thousands released into the US
The remnants of the encampment near the Del Rio International Bridge are seen on Friday after it was largely cleared out
Migrants, many from Haiti, wait in lines to board buses under the Del Rio International Bridge on Friday in Del Rio, Texas
U.S. Border Patrol agents watch as Haitian immigrant families cross the Rio Grande from into Del Rio, Texas on Thursday from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. Mexican immigration officials had launched an operation in a small migrant camp on the Mexican side of the river and many families, fearing deportation, surged across the border to take their chances on the U.S. side
'We went for an hour and toured the place that we feel is a real catastrophic and human disgrace as people around this world watch the Border Patrol use slave-like techniques — mounted on horses,' Sharpton said. 'It compelled us to come and show our voices and our presence.'
At least two hecklers began asking Sharpton 'how much money are you making out of this?' and 'why are you stoking racism where it doesn't exist?'
Sharpton attempted to continue by calling for ICE officers to be 'fully investigated' and for 'those that were fully involved to face justice.'
He also said that there should be 'full asylum rights given to those that deserve it.'
The protesters only got louder, crying that Del Rio was not a racist city and that 'we don't want your racism in Texas!'
'The Trump supporters and the right-wingers can scream all they want,' Sharpton fired back. 'We gon' continue to come back. We gon' stand with our people to make sure that asylum [seekers] is treated in one way and one manner. And we will continue to come back over and over again.'
After two-and-a-half minutes and continued heckling for Sharpton to pay taxes and calling him a 'race-baiter,' Sharpton eventually turned away from the microphone.
The National Action Network founder attempted to give a speech after touring the area linking Del Rio with Ciudad Acuna, Mexico , where thousands of migrants from Latin American and Caribbean countries have stayed in recent weeks
The protesters only got louder, crying that Del Rio was not a racist city and that 'we don't want your racism in Texas!'
Sharpton began his statement by slamming US Customs and Border Patrol for using 'slave-like tactics' against the migrants
After two-and-a-half minutes and continued heckling for Sharpton to pay taxes and calling him a 'race-baiter,' Sharpton eventually turned away from the microphone
Demonstrators protest the arrival of Rev. Al Sharpton at the Del Rio International Airport on Thursday in Del Rio, Texas
People participate in a protest against the visit of civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton after his arrival at Del Rio
In Mexico, Haitian immigrants waited to cross the Rio Grande on Thursday. The camp on the Mexican side has been growing, though Mexican officials have surrounded it and are telling migrants they will be deported to Haiti if they enter the US
Official vehicles line a dirt road along the Rio Grande on Friday in Del Rio where they are the lookout for illegal crossings
The camp had swelled to some 15,000 migrants at one point, with thousands seen wading across the Rio Grande River daily. Many are Haitians who were previously granted asylum in Chile, with some Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans also present.
It came as a the border crisis entered a new phase, after President Joe Biden's administration largely cleared out the squalid border camp, but failed to account for the fate of thousands of migrants.
Secretary Mayorkas said on Thursday that 2,000 Haitians had been released into the US pending hearings, and DHS previously said that 1,401 were sent back to Haiti and 3,206 remain in custody.
This left thousands unaccounted for of the 15,000 total migrants that filled the camp at its peak.
Mayorkas appeared on CNN Thursday evening and was asked repeatedly about how many Haitians have been released into the US pending the outcome of their immigration proceedings – and repeatedly declined to provide a specific numerical figure.
'We believe it is a very small percentage of the total that assembled in Del Rio Texas, and that will be removed,' Mayorkas responded, on a day when the US special envoy for Haiti resigned in protest of US policy on deportations.
Interviewer Wolf Blitzer noted that about 15,000 Haitians had gathered. He tried to get Mayorkas to reveal how many had been released.
'What about the rest?' Blitzer pressed.
'If it's 10 per cent, or 15, I don't have the precise numbers,' Mayorkas responded. That would put the figure at between 1,500 and 2,250 – although Mayorkas avoided specifics.
'I assure you it's a minority of the individuals, for the reasons that I have articulated, and they are placed in immigration enforcement proceedings, where they are able, where they appear before a judge. And if in fact they make a valid claim to remain in the United States, then of course, we honor that and if not they are removed as well,' he continued.
He also addressed blistering criticism by pointing to Centers for Disease Control regulations under Title 42 – with removals pegged to the coronavirus crisis.
'It's very important to underscore the fact that this is not a matter of immigration policy, but rather this is a matter of public health policy,' he said. 'We are applying the law, pursuant to an order that the Centers for Disease Control, issued in light of the fact that this country and the world is in the midst of a pandemic,' he added.
'We are exercising that authority as we are required to do to protect the health and well-being of the migrants themselves, our personnel, local communities and the American public.'
Adding to the farce of Sharpton's visit, the camp that he intended to visit had been largely cleared by Thursday
An area where about 15,000 migrants, many from Haiti, were camping out along the Del Rio International Bridge is seen with a large portion of the area cleaned up as authorities continue to process and remove them
A migrant child is seen Thursday holding items at an encampment under the Del Rio International Bridge where migrants, many from Haiti, have been staying after crossing the Rio Grande
State troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety stand next to a line of law enforcement vehicles facing the U.S. Mexico border near a makeshift border camp along the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on Thursday
Meanwhile Mexican forces have surrounded a second camp that is growing on the Mexican side of the border, where some migrants are gathering to assess their chances of successfully entering the US illegally.
Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) is starting to return migrants to the southern Mexican city of Tapachula so they can file asylum applications there.
'We're not taking them out of the country,' INM chief Francisco Garduno told Reuters. 'We're bringing them away from the border so there are no hygiene and overcrowding problems.'
Telling migrants eyeing the U.S. side of the border that it would be better to process claims before the media disappeared from Del Rio and Ciudad Acuna, INM agents swept through the camp on Thursday beseeching them to go back to Tapachula.
'We're giving you this option,' INM official Montserrat Saldana told a cluster of migrants circled around her. 'All of you who cross the river are going straight to Haiti.'
About 3,000 remained in the US camp late Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said. The number peaked Saturday as migrants driven by confusion over the Biden administration´s policies and misinformation on social media converged at the border crossing trying to seek asylum.
The administration recently extended protections for more than 100,000 Haitians already in the U.S. - many of whom left their homeland after its devastating 2010 earthquake - citing security concerns and social unrest in the Western Hemisphere´s poorest country.
But the protective status was not supposed to apply to new arrivals.
A Haitian migrant pleas with a Mexican police officer blocking access to the Rio Grande river so that immigrants can't use it to cross the U.S.-Mexico border from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico on Thursday
The camp had swelled to some 10,000 migrants at one point, with thousands seen wading across the Rio Grande River daily
U.S. special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, submitted a letter of resignation protesting the 'inhumane' large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants
Meanwhile, the U.S. special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, submitted a letter of resignation protesting the 'inhumane' large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants.
Foote, who was appointed in July, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying he was stepping down immediately 'with deep disappointment and apologies to those seeking crucial changes.'
'I will not be associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs to daily life,' he wrote. 'Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my policy recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.'
The career diplomat was known to be deeply frustrated with what he considered a lack of urgency in Washington and a glacial pace on efforts to improve conditions in Haiti.
State Department spokesman Ned Price disputed Foote´s assertions, saying his proposals had been 'fully considered in a rigorous and transparent policy process.'
'Some of those proposals were determined to be harmful to our commitment to the promotion of democracy in Haiti and were rejected during the policy process. For him to say his proposals were ignored is simply false,' Price said.
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