AUSTIN, Texas — The Biden administration has quietly begun returning several thousand Haitian migrants who illegally crossed the U.S. southern border into southwestern Arizona, two people familiar with the operations told the Washington Examiner.
Two planes, each able to transport up to 130 Haitian migrants, have departed Yuma, Arizona, for Laredo, Texas, each weekday — a roughly 1,200-mile journey. The Haitian migrants deplane in Laredo and are processed by Border Patrol before being placed on another flight bound for the Caribbean nation.
Flights occur under Title 42, a public health policy imposed at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that allows Border Patrol agents to return any adult or family who illegally crosses the border to their country of origin or Mexico, including asylum-seekers. Many Haitians fled Haiti a decade ago and have lived for years in South America, but they recently chose to flee to the United States or seek asylum in other countries, including Mexico.
Flight data supplied by a federal agent involved in the removal flights shows one U.S. plane making daily turnaround flights between Texas and Haiti over the past several days. The plane departed Port-au-Prince, Haiti, last Thursday and Friday, as well as Monday afternoon.
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The U.S. government’s ability to turn away or expel migrants back into Mexico under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s March 2020 recommendation is dependent on the country’s willingness to accept migrants from countries outside of Central America.
Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not comment on the flights.
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The number of noncitizens crossing the border into Yuma topped 29,000 in December, according to data obtained by the Washington Examiner. CBP has not yet published official numbers.
The number of 29,000 encounters of illegal immigrants is extremely high compared to previous years. Last December, an outlier because of the coronavirus pandemic, saw 1,208 illegal immigrant encounters across Yuma, according to federal data. In December 2019, fewer than 800 people were encountered.
The last time the Biden administration sweepingly returned thousands of Haitians to the Caribbean was in September, when thousands came across the border in Del Rio, Texas, and built an encampment as they waited to be taken into custody with the hope of being released into the U.S.
At the time, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. would fly up to three planes of Haitian migrants back to Haiti daily but did not meet that number due to violence on the flights.
One week after the surge in Del Rio, roughly 2,200 of the 9,000 Haitians who had crossed the border were returned, with more than 6,000 being released into the U.S.
Border Patrol has detailed agents from its Special Operations Group to accompany ICE officers in transit due to safety concerns following violence on some flights.
“The Haitians have been getting aggressive because they found out they’re getting returned to Haiti,” a second person familiar with Border Patrol’s decisions and operations in Yuma.
Three people who spoke with the Washington Examiner last week said more Haitians are apprehended at night than during the day. Border Patrol agents believe migrants try to avoid detection by choosing to travel in the dark rather than surrendering to agents during the day so they aren’t flown back to Haiti.
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Another Border Patrol agent who asked to speak anonymously said his peers have begun to see Haitian migrants resist arrest on a daily basis through bouts of punching, kicking, and fighting law enforcement.
