US To Reopen Border At Del Rio On Monday After Migrant Influx Stopped - Local Sheriff

DEL RIO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2021) The United States on Monday will reopen the international border crossing on the US-Mexico border in Del Rio, Texas, after it was temporarily closed to deter tens of thousands of migrants that overwhelmed the region last week, Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Martinez told Sputnik.

"They (Federal government) assured me that on Monday they'll be operational at 100 percent," Martinez said.

Martinez said the Biden administration's decision to close the Del Rio port of entry was critical to influencing the Mexican government to take action to deter migrants from coming to the United States.

"I think that when the (Del Rio) international bridge was shut down a week ago, that sent a message (to Mexico) ... there is a price to pay, there's a cost because that's our economic engine," Martinez said.

Martinez believes inaction from the Mexican government to help deter the influx of migrants earlier this year may have been because local economies in Mexico benefit from the migration surge.

"The Mexicans, they're in it because they're making money if the border is open," Martinez said. "They're making money off all these Haitians and Venezuelans, whoever is coming through their country because they're buying food, they're buying clothing, they're spending money in their country.

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Mexican citizens were unable to come to the United States to attend school or to work with the Del Rio international bridge closed, Martinez said.

"Some of the people that came here (United States) to work in restaurants, they're stuck over there," Martinez said. "We had restaurants that had to close, so they're losing money."

Some more migrant caravans may be on their way to the US southern border, Martinez said.

"Intelligence is out there that there's some more," Martinez said when asked about other potential migrant caravans headed to the US southern border

Some 15,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, arrived in Del Rio, Texas, last week, prompting Texas to declare a state of emergency and deploy additional state police officers and National Guard troops to stem the surge.

Earlier on Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the United States to date conducted 17 flights to Haiti to transport about 2,000 individuals who tried to cross the southern border of the United States.