The U.S. government is increasing deportation flights to Haiti in response to the rapid arrival of thousands of Haitian migrants in a small Texas community along the border with Mexico, the Department of Homeland Security announced Saturday.
Thousands of migrants, many of them from Haiti, have crossed the southern border in recent days near Del Rio, Texas, prompting U.S. immigration agents to set up a makeshift processing site underneath an international bridge to accommodate the new arrivals.
Marsha Espinosa, a DHS spokeswoman, said the department will "secure additional transportation to accelerate the pace and increase the capacity" of deportation flights to Haiti and other countries in the Western Hemisphere within the next 72 hours.
"We have reiterated that our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey," Espinosa told CBS News. "Individuals and families are subject to border restrictions, including expulsion.
Irregular migration poses a significant threat to the health and welfare of border communities and to the lives of migrants themselves and should not be attempted."