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| USA TODAY
DEL RIO, TEXAS — Thousands of Haitian immigrants encamped at Del Rio, Texas, after entering the U.S. through the Rio Grande are awaiting either deportation from U.S. authorities or deciding to stay put and seek asylum.
But how did these Haitian migrants make their way to Texas instead of entering from Florida — a state that’s closer to the Caribbean nation?
Many of those migrants, experts say, were likely already in Central America, as powerful natural disasters and an often-dysfunctional government prompted a steady flow of out-migration for more than a decade.
But now, with economic opportunities drying up in Latin America as the pandemic continues, Haitian migrants are seeking asylum in the U.S.
“The end goal is always the United States,” said Eduardo Gamarra, professor of political science at the Florida International University. “And the pattern is one that wasn’t really begun by the Haitians, it was begun by the Cubans. They’re the ones who set this trail.”
More: Criticized from all sides, Biden scrambles to address surge of Haitian migrants at southern border
A devastating earthquake in 2010 earthquake displaced more than 1.5 million people from the island nation. Afterwards, many Haitians left their homeland for South and Central America.
In Brazil, Haitian migrants were granted work visas for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. They were also able to obtain permanent residency for humanitarian reasons. By August 2020, there were more than 143,000 Haitians in Brazil, according to El País, a daily newspaper in Spain.
In Chile, the Haitian population jumped. In 2017, there were 64,567 Haitians in Chile, with an estimated 150,000 Haitians there just a year later, according to the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think-tank.
Jacques Jonassaint, a former special envoy of President Emile Jonassaint to the Clinton administration, says in Chile many Haitians did not get work visas because of the country’s process.
“They did not obtain those visas; the Chilean government refused to give them the visas,” said Jonassaint. “And the reason for that is to get a permit to work in Chile there’s a process that is very lengthy and most Haitians don’t carry paperwork with them.”
Haitian nationals were able to obtain tourist visas in Chile, but in 2018, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera canceled temporary visas that allowed Haitians to move from tourists to migrants once they found a job.
Gamarra says it’s probable that many Haitians were undocumented in Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil and Ecuador, meaning they aren’t able to be deported legally to those countries.
“They can’t even be deported to Mexico because under international law, you have to be deported to the country where you have legal residence or a country has to agree to accept you,” he said. “And more than likely, none of these countries is willing to accept Haitian migrants because of their status.”
And the COVID-19 pandemic hit particularly hard in Latin America. Brazil, the region’s largest economy, shrank 4.1% last year, and nearly 600,000 people there have died from COVID-19.
For three weeks, migrants have freely crossed the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas – a city of about 35,000 people.
More: US closes part of Texas border at Del Rio, begins flying Haitians home
Images of U.S. border agents chasing Haitian migrants on horseback prompted outrage Monday, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki calling the images “horrific” and Democratic lawmakers demanding accountability.
Mexican authorities have also blocked entry to Ciudad Acuña and will start deporting Haitians. (Mexico only accepts migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.)
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas visited Del Rio on Monday and said an additional 600 Homeland Security personnel have been sent there.
Jonassaint also pointed to the lack of persecution Haitians from their government as a reason why they are being expelled so quickly out of the U.S.
“If you look at the strict adherence to the law, both U.S. laws and international laws, those people coming in from Chile or through Mexico should not come at all in the United States, legitimately, asking or requesting for asylum because there’s no persecution by their government against them,” he said.
But Haitians pointed to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and a recent destructive earthquake, both this year, in their homeland as reasons why they are fearful of returning to Haiti.
Karla M. McKanders, an immigration law expert at Vanderbilt University, said Haitian migration through Texas is not a new phenomenon.
“It’s important for people to recognize that Haitian nationals have been using this alternative route to get to the southern border for a few years, maybe even a little bit more than that,” McKanders said.
More than 320 migrants Haitians were flown back to Port-au-Prince on three flights Sunday, and Haiti says it is expecting six flights Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Trump enacted Title 42, which allowed for quick expulsion of asylum seekers to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities last year. President Joe Biden continued the policy; however, children and some families are exempt.
More: Biden sends hundreds of border agents, steps up flights to remove Haitian migrants from South Texas
Horace G. Campbell, professor of African American studies and political science at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, spoke strenuously against the deportations. “The United States is succumbing to white supremacist hysteria in this country by deporting these Haitians,” Campbell said.
Contributing: Sarah Elbeshbishi, Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
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PM Boris Johnson warning to world’s richest countries comes amid suggestions US could commit more funds
At the UN general assembly in New York, the prime minister urged other developed countries to increase their contributions, to help meet the target of $100bn (£73bn) in climate financing set more than a decade ago.
“The world will see, and your people will remember, and history will judge,” he said, underlining the importance of achieving an ambitious outcome to the Cop26 climate talks, which the UK is hosting in Glasgow in November.
The prime minister was speaking ahead of a roundtable of developing countries, which he co-chaired with UN secretary general António Guterres.
He added: “Cop26 will be staged in the full glare of the global spotlight. And when the summit ends, when most of the world has committed to decisive, game-changing action, it will be clear to all which of us has lacked the courage to step up,” he said.
Without singling out any individual countries, he added: “It is the biggest economies in the world that are causing the problem, while the smallest suffer the worst consequences. And while progress is being made all over the world, the gulf between what has been promised, what is actually being delivered, and what needs to happen … remains vast.”
The UK is entering the final leg of a frantic diplomatic effort to ensure that the Glasgow summit produces a significant agreement. Cop26 president Alok Sharma has travelled to the US with Johnson to press the case with individual countries.
Sharma told journalists in New York that of the G20 countries, only the G7 plus Argentina had so far produced the emission reduction targets they had committed to set ahead of Cop26.
He urged the other G20 countries, which include China, India and Russia, to step forward. “The ball’s in their court and they need to deliver,” he said. “Warm words are not going to be enough; people need to come forward with commitments.”
It remains unclear whether China, a major polluter, will attend November’s summit. Beijing was irritated by the announcement of the Aukus defence and security deal on Indo-China.
Johnson’s official spokesperson said on Monday: “We’re obviously very keen that China attends, and will work with them.”
Developed countries promised more than a decade ago at the Copenhagen summit to make $100bn in public and private financing available to help developing countries transition to clean energy sources, and cope with the extreme weather triggered by global heating. But the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported last week that the target appeared likely to be missed by up to $20bn.
Johnson said en route to the US that he believed there was only a six in 10 chance of the target being reached before the Cop26 summit. But Joe Biden’s climate envoy Kerry, also attending the UN meeting, expressed more optimism. “I think we’re going to get it done,” he said, when asked about the $100bn.
Asked whether Biden would commit more US financing, he said: “I’m telling you to stay tuned to the president’s speech and we’ll see where we are,” in what appeared to be a heavy hint that the White House is preparing to make an announcement.
Johnson will discuss the prospects for a climate deal with the US president when the pair meet in Washington on Tuesday.
The prime minister has repeatedly made the point in statements this week that the developed countries owe a debt to their poorer counterparts, because they are largely responsible for climate change.
“It’s the developing world that are bearing the brunt of catastrophic climate change in the form of hurricanes and fires and floods, and the real long-term economic damage that they face, and yet it’s the developed world that for over 200 years has put the carbon in the atmosphere,” he said.
As well as boosting climate finance, the UK and UN are also hoping to persuade some rich countries to make more ambitious promises to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years.
The general assembly meeting was intended by Guterres as a “wake-up call”, and he showed his frustration with the lack of progress in the buildup Cop26 so far, according to a senior UN official.
“He is really quite frustrated at where we are with emissions reduction, and that the decade-long commitment on climate finance has not been fulfilled,” said the official. “But the meeting definitely served its purpose in the sense of urgency and warning that if [countries] don’t step up ambition, there is a high risk of failure [at Cop26].”
Though the UN refused to say which countries needed to make fresh commitments to cut emissions, the G20, which includes China and India, were pinpointed as holding the key.
“It’s really clear that everyone knows the gap between what is needed and what is currently on the table is absolutely massive and requires the leadership of the G20,” said a senior UN official after the talks.
David Kabua, president of the Marshall Islands, who represented the High Ambition Coalition, which includes many of the most vulnerable countries, was more forceful. “With so much at stake, we have to follow talk with action,” he said, and urged the G20 leaders to take “drastic steps” to cut emissions.
Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, also called for more action. “Enhanced climate finance and enhanced ambitions are necessary. The richest countries and the biggest emitters need to lead the way,” she said.
Frederiksen committed to contribute at least 1% of the $100bn target and urged other countries to “aim high”.
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U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., September 16, 2021. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS
MEXICO CITY, Sept 20 (Reuters) – The United States said on Monday it had put Guatemala’s attorney general and five Salvadoran Supreme Court judges on a list of “undemocratic and corrupt” officials, in a sign of the Biden government’s frustration with Central American authorities.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the move on Twitter, saying a top aide of Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras was also on the list, which adds to growing U.S. concerns about efforts to tackle graft in both countries.
Responding with a statement, Guatemala’s Public Ministry called the U.S. accusations “totally false and unfounded”, saying they were based on spurious media reports and unreliable sources.
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei also tweeted to criticise what he called “a lack of respect towards international relations”.
The five Salvadoran magistrates mentioned were appointed by lawmakers from President Nayib Bukele’s party this year in a process Washington said was unconstitutional.
Bukele, who has a strained relationship with Washington, responded on Twitter saying: “It’s clear the list has NOTHING to do with “corruption”, it’s pure politics and the lowest kind of interference.”
Bukele questioned why no Salvadoran opposition figures were on the list, or anyone from the Honduran government.
“How strange,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, the judges ruled that the president can serve two consecutive terms, opening the door for him to stand for re-election in 2024, and sparking condemnation from Washington.
Bukele defends his actions on the grounds that he has widespread support in El Salvador. An avid user of social media, he changed his Twitter biography this week to “Dictator of El Salvador,” in an apparently ironic riposte to his critics. read more
The United States had previously said it had lost confidence in Porras, after she fired a prosecutor who investigated high level corruption.
Neither Porras or her aide responded to requests for comment.
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Covid-19 has now killed as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu pandemic – more than 675,000.
The US population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country.
But the Covid-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal tragedy in its own right, especially given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines available this time.
“Big pockets of American society – and, worse, their leaders – have thrown this away,” said Dr Howard Markel a medical historian at the University of Michigan.
Like the 1918-19 flu, the coronavirus may never entirely disappear from our midst. Instead, scientists hope it becomes a mild seasonal bug as human immunity strengthens through vaccination and repeated infection. That could take time.
“We hope it will be like getting a cold, but there’s no guarantee,” said Rustom Antia, a biologist at Emory University, who suggests an optimistic scenario in which this could happen over a few years.
For now, the pandemic still has the United States and other parts of the world firmly in its jaws.
While the Delta variant-fueled surge in infections may have peaked, US deaths are more than 1,900 a day on average – the highest level since early March – and the country’s overall toll topped 675,000 Monday, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real number is believed to be higher.
Winter may bring a new surge, with the University of Washington’s influential model projecting an additional 100,000 or so Americans will die of Covid-19 by 1 January, which would bring the overall US toll to 776,000.
The 1918-19 influenza pandemic killed 50 million victims globally at a time when the world had one-quarter the population it does now. Global deaths from Covid-19 now stand at more than 4.6 million.
The 1918-19 flu’s US death toll is a rough guess, given the incomplete records of the era and the poor scientific understanding of what caused the illness. The 675,000 figure comes from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Before Covid-19, the 1918-19 flu was universally considered the worst pandemic disease in human history. Whether the current scourge ultimately proves deadlier is unclear.
In many ways, the 1918-19 flu – which was wrongly named Spanish flu because it first received widespread news coverage in Spain – was worse.
Spread by the mobility of World War I, it killed young, healthy adults in vast numbers.
No vaccine existed to slow it, and there were no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections. And, of course, the world was much smaller.
Yet jet travel and mass migrations threaten to increase the toll of the current pandemic. Much of the world is unvaccinated. And the coronavirus has been full of surprises.
Just under 64% of the US population has received as least one dose of the vaccine, with state rates ranging from a high of approximately 77% in Vermont and Massachusetts to lows around 46% to 49% in Idaho, Wyoming, West Virginia and Mississippi.
Globally, about 43% of the population has received at least one dose, according to Our World in Data, with some African countries just beginning to give their first shots.
“We know that all pandemics come to an end,” said Dr Jeremy Brown, director of emergency care research at the National Institutes of Health, who wrote a book on influenza. “They can do terrible things while they’re raging.”
Covid-19 could have been far less lethal in the US if more people had gotten vaccinated faster, “and we still have an opportunity to turn it around”, Brown said. “We often lose sight of how lucky we are to take these things for granted.”
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Sep 21, 2021
The Associated Press
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The Rundown
NEW YORK (AP) — World leaders will be back at the United Nations for the first time in two years on Tuesday with a formidable agenda of escalating crises to tackle, including the still raging COVID-19 pandemic and a relentlessly warming planet….Read More
DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — The options remaining for thousands of Haitian migrants straddling the Mexico-Texas border are narrowing as the United States government ramps up to an expected six expulsion flights to Haiti Tuesday and Mexico began busin…Read More
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — It’s a scene that has come to symbolize the chaotic end to America’s 20 years of war in Afghanistan: A lumbering U.S. Air Force cargo plane takes off from Kabul airport, chased by hundreds of desperate Afghan men scram…Read More
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden planned to use his first address before the U.N. General Assembly to reassure other nations of American leadership on the global stage and call on allies to move quickly and cooperatively to address the feste…Read More
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OTHER TOP STORIES
BEIJING (AP) — The Beizhong International Travel Agency in the eastern city of Tianjin has had only one customer since coronavirus outbreaks that began in July prompted Chine…Read More
COVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000. And like the worldwide scourge of a century ago, the coronavi…Read More
MOOSE, Wyo. (AP) — Authorities said a body discovered in northern Wyoming was believed to be that of a 22-year-old woman who disappeared while on a cross-country trek with a …Read More
It was a United Nations speech that got attention like few others — a plug for vaccines, young people and the earth’s well being from superstar K-pop band BTS. …Read More
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SAN SALVADOR, Sept 20 (Reuters) – El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has on Twitter proclaimed himself “dictator” of the Central American country, in an apparent joke that has done little to dispel concerns about his increasing concentration of power.
The 40-year-old Bukele, a seasoned and often provocative user of social media, late on Sunday changed his Twitter profile to read “Dictator of El Salvador”, in what appears to be a bid to mock critics who accuse him of having autocratic tendencies.
The office of Bukele, a vigorous proponent of Bitcoin who opinion polls show is one of the most popular leaders in the Americas, did not reply to a request for comment.
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director of human rights group Amnesty International and a critic of Bukele, said his use of “mocking language” showed the president’s contempt for those who “question or criticize him constructively”, and urged him to build bridges rather than courting controversy on Twitter.
Bukele’s administration came under fire from the United States this month after Salvadoran Supreme Court judges recently appointed by his party ruled that the president could seek a second consecutive term, which Washington saw as unconstitutional.
Last year, Bukele, who has nearly 3 million followers on Twitter, caused a furor by sending troops into the National Assembly to help push through law and order legislation in the impoverished country of around 6.5 million people.
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BBC- Images which appear to show border agents on horseback driving migrants back to a river like cattle have sparked an investigation in the US.
The pictures widely shared on social media show the riders using their reins against the migrants and pushing them back towards the Rio Grande in Texas.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says his department will investigate reports of alleged abuse.
He said the officers were trying to manage the migrants crossing the river.
Some 13,000 mainly Haitian migrants have gathered in a makeshift camp under a bridge connecting Del Rio to Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña on the US-Mexico border.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the footage was horrible to watch.
“I have seen some of the footage. I don’t have the full context. I can’t imagine what context would make that appropriate. But I don’t have additional details and certainly I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate.”
Some social media users said the pictures were reminiscent of the violence seen in slavery times in the US.
The pictures taken by AFP photographer Paul Ratje show Haitians going back and forth across the border to get food for their families, and finding themselves blocked by the horses.
“Some of the migrants started running to try to get around the horsemen, and one of the agents grabbed the Haitian in the picture by the shirt and he ended up swinging him around while the horse trotted in a circle,” he said of a couple of particular photographs.
image source, AFPRatje says he does not think the man was hurt; shortly after that, he said they “kind of calmed down, and they started letting people in”.
image source, AFPUS Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz said the incident was being investigated to make sure there was not an “unacceptable” response by his officers, adding they operated in a difficult environment, trying to distinguish migrants from smugglers.
The UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, has said it is monitoring US expulsions to Haiti, adding it was imperative that people fearing persecution had access to asylum, Reuters news agency reports.
The US government has reported a surge of migrants arriving at the border with Mexico this year.
The number of people detained there in July exceeded 200,000 for the first time in 21 years, according to government data.
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The Biden administration on Monday said it plans to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated international visitors beginning in early November.
All foreign visitors must be vaccinated against COVID-19, and must show proof of vaccination before boarding a U.S.-bound airline, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said. He added that visitors traveling by plane must also provide a negative test taken no more than 72 hours prior to flying.
There will be no quarantine requirement, but Zients said there will be enhanced contact tracing, and masks will continue to be required on flights. Unvaccinated Americans will need to provide a negative test within one day of departure, and then test again when they arrive.
Zients said the protocols will “protect Americans here at home, and enhance the safety of the international air travel system.” The new policy is possible because of the rising vaccination rates in other countries, he added.
“Today nearly 6 billion shots have been administered globally and dozens of countries have strong vaccination rates. Vaccines continue to show that they’re highly effective, including against the delta variant,” Zients said.
The administration will leave it up to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine which vaccines qualify.
The announcement represents a major victory for the travel industry and for European governments who had been pushing for a change.
The Biden administration has kept strict bans on nonessential travel from overseas, even as other countries have opened up their borders to fully vaccinated Americans.
Former President Trump instituted a travel ban on China in early 2020, which eventually expanded to include to Iran, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the 29 regions in the European Schengen region.
Trump moved to lift restrictions on Europe and Brazil in the waning days of his term, but President Biden kept them in place once he took office. Biden also added restrictions on India amid a surge of COVID-19 infections there.
Biden administration officials in June formed working groups with Canada, Mexico, the European Union and the United Kingdom to weigh when to lift international travel restrictions, and in mid-July it seemed the administration was close to announcing a change. But as the delta variant spread and infections rose, the administration said the closures would remain in place.
Zients said the new policy will be stronger, as it will be based on individuals rather than countries.
Experts have said picking and choosing countries based off of COVID-19 infections is arbitrary because the disease is already entrenched in the U.S.
Despite the new announcement, Zients said the land border with Canada remains closed.
The U.K.’s ambassador to the U.S., Dame Karen Pierce, in a statement said the announcement is “great news for families and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”
“This decision means that more Brits can reunite with loved ones in the United States, more British holidaymakers can spend their hard-earned pounds in the American tourism sector, and more business activity can boost both of our economies,” Pierce said.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet that he is “delighted” that Biden “is reinstating transatlantic travel so fully vaccinated UK nationals can visit the USA.”
“It’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again,” Johnson added.
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