A group of Haitian migrants who were being bused to San Antonio to be flown back to their country of origin briefly took control of the vehicle Monday before making a break for it, according to the Washington Examiner.
The Examiner report, which cited two federal law enforcement officials, added that the escapees were eventually recaptured. It was not immediately clear how many initially escaped.
An ICE spokesperson told KEVO there were no injuries in connection with the incident. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
The US and Mexican governments are set to ramp up the number of deportation flights to Haiti after nearly 15,000 migrants — the vast majority of them people of Haitian origin who settled in Central and South America more than a decade ago — settled under a bridge connecting Ciudad Acuña, Mexico with Del Rio, Texas.
More than 6,000 people have been removed from the makeshift encampment since Sunday and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has promised the US will increase the pace and capacity of flights to Haiti and other countries as the week goes on. The Associated Press reported Monday night that the US plans to begin seven daily expulsion flights on Wednesday.
At the same time, US Customs and Border Protection has been forced to defend itself from criticism of the conduct of its agents who were falsely accused of using whips to force migrants back on to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande over the weekend.
President Biden, whose lax immigration policies have been blamed by members of both parties for causing a dangerous migration surge at America’s southwestern border, gave a brief response when asked about the ongoing crisis at the United Nations Tuesday morning.
“We’ll get it under control,” the president insisted.
With Post wires