In Del Rio, Texas, influx of Haitian refugees puts Biden’s migration policy to the test – archyworldys

They have nothing. Tap shoes, a dusty backpack, containing diapers for the baby and a few T-shirts. But they also hang on a plastic sleeve with their immigration documents. It is their treasure, their hope, the reward for so many hardships. Jean-Michel Beaudouin, 28, and his partner Anes, 26, stand among twenty migrants lined up in front of a reception center, on the outskirts of the Texan town of Del Rio, not far from the international bridge leading to Mexico . Anes holds Jana, their 2-year-old girl, whose eyes are dazed with emotion and fatigue. The little one is holding a soft toy, donated by a local volunteer. She doesn’t know it yet, but America just opened her arms to her on September 23. In a confused and somewhat shameful way, entangled in the contradictions of a difficult to read migration policy.

City of 35,000 inhabitants, Del Rio lacks charm but no history. For ten days, it has been on the front page of American news, due to the sudden and massive influx of refugees – mostly Haitians – having crossed Mexico, then the low waters of the Rio Grande, in the hope for a necessarily better life. Jean-Michel Beaudouin and Anes left Haiti in 2013. “There were too many problems and violence. And no way to find a job when you studied like me. ” The couple lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil for five years, then hit the road again, passing through Chile, Colombia, before deciding to join the United States. But, after crossing the river, Jean-Michel and Anes found themselves in an open-air camp, under the Del Rio bridge. “It was very hard”, he said, without going into detail. The noise, the hunger, the heat, the filth.

When the flow of migrants arriving from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico suddenly intensified, local forces were overwhelmed. Up to 14,000 men, women and children crowded together in the sun, in total destitution. The images, taken by drone, of this improvised camp, worthy of humanitarian disasters in the underdeveloped world, captivated television channels. But the case took on a new political dimension when videos appeared on September 19 showing border police officers on horseback threateningly blocking migrants, thong in hand. The devastating resonance of this sequence echoed a larger debate, that of discrimination against blacks. ” It’s embarassing, said Joe Biden, Friday, September 24, after long days of silence. It is more than embarrassing. It’s dangerous. It’s bad. It sends the wrong message to the world, the wrong message to us. “

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