# Haitians on the Mexico-US Border at Del Rio, Texas **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2021, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haitians-on-the-mexico-us-border-at-del-rio-texas/950898 "2021-09-19T02:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haitians-on-the-mexico-us-border-at-del-rio-texas/950898/1 "2021-09-19T02:14:37Z")
Apparently there are something like 12,000-14,000 people sheltering (or trying to) under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas after wading across the Rio Grand US/Mexico border. > **[Thousands of migrants held in squalor under Texas bridge | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/17/us/texas-del-rio-migrants-bridge/index.html)** > > Roselini Villasmil broke down Friday as she recalled the squalid conditions under a bridge in the Texas border town of Del Rio, where nearly 14,000 unauthorized migrants are being held for processing by US immigration agents. Given that Haiti is 1900 miles from Del Rio and most of that distance is ocean water these folks did not walk all the way there. I’m not clear on how these Haitians arrived at their current location, or the timeline. There is apparently speculation that some of them (most of them?) have been living in South America since the 2010 earthquake, but that still leaves the question of how desperately poor people managed that crossing. There also seems to be speculation that the more recent earthquake and presidential assassination is prompting this current move, but if these folks were already in South America why would events on Haiti suddenly inspire them to migrate? Are some (a lot?) more recent arrivals from Haiti? Basically - how did they get from Haiti to the mainland, and how recently? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haitians-on-the-mexico-us-border-at-del-rio-texas/950898/2 "2021-09-19T03:38:43Z")
I had wondered the same thing myself. This story says that a lot of Haitians emigrated to various South American countries after the 2010 earthquake, among other things. > **[Haitians on Texas border undeterred by US plan to expel them](https://apnews.com/article/health-mexico-texas-caribbean-immigration-9a95f12bd4e425bcdc87d38fa2cad298)** > > DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Haitian migrants seeking to escape poverty, hunger and a feeling of hopelessness in their home country said they will not be deterred by U.S. plans to speedily send them back, as thousands of people remained encamped on the... ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haitians-on-the-mexico-us-border-at-del-rio-texas/950898/3 "2021-09-19T04:55:15Z")
I’ve also been wondering why this is happening, and why now. And also, why hasn’t Fox news been screaming about it. There have been a lot of large “caravans” of refugees approaching the border in the past. Travelling together is safer as protection from robbers and gangs. But why does this group consist of Haitians only, apparently originating in different areas of several countries in South America. How did it get organized? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haitians-on-the-mexico-us-border-at-del-rio-texas/950898/4 "2021-09-19T09:38:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > And also, why hasn’t Fox news been screaming about it. They have. > **[Border flooded with hundreds of migrants crossing into Texas](https://www.foxnews.com/us/border-flooded-with-hundreds-of-migrants-walking-into-texas)** > > Hundreds of migrants are seen crossing the border into Texas in Del Rio on Saturday, with many of them originally coming from Haiti. They have also been questioning why the government suddenly forbade them to fly camera drones over the area. > **[Fox News cleared to fly after Biden FAA temporarily bans drones over bridge...](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-faa-places-temporary-ban-on-drones-flying-over-bridge-packed-with-illegal-immigrants)** > > The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday night placed a two-week flight restriction along a bridge at the southern border inundated with thousands of illegal immigrants, which prevents reporters from flying drones to document the crisis.