The dire circumstances represent the humanitarian challenge facing Mr Biden as border arrests near a 20-year high.
Thousands of migrants gather under a bridge connecting Del Rio, Texas and Mexico’s Ciudad Acua, making a makeshift camp with some basic services in the intense heat in the latest border emergency in front of US President Joe Biden.
There is a shortage of food and water, about 20 migrants said Reuters, and the temperature has risen to about 99 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius). Reuters Saw hundreds of migrants through the Rio Grande River and back in Mexico asking to stock up on essentials they weren’t receiving from the American side.
The migrants are mostly Haitian, with Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaragua also present.
The dire circumstances represent the humanitarian challenge facing Mr Biden as border arrests near a 20-year high. US officials arrested More than 195,000 migrants crossed the Mexican border in August, according to government figures released on Wednesday.
Ernesto, a 31-year-old Haitian migrant, slipped back to Mexico on Thursday to buy water and food – the fourth time, he said, since arriving in the United States on Monday morning. Mr Ernesto, who declined to give his surname to protect his identity, said he and his 3-year-old daughter were not fed at the camp, where migrants are struggling for shade.
Sometimes, he said, he runs to avoid Mexican immigration officials but usually isn’t bothered by them. “But now the money is running out,” he said.
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to questions about the number of people in the Del Rio camp. A CBP agent told Reuters About 6,000 people were in the camp on Wednesday. Reuters journalists estimated they saw at least 1,000 people on two banks of the river.
the migrants showed Reuters Tickets with the numbers they got from the US Border Patrol. Many said other migrants told them they could stay in the camp for five days.
The Border Patrol said in a statement it was increasing the workforce in Del Rio to facilitate a “safe, humane and orderly process”. Drinking water, towels and portable toilets have been provided while migrants wait to be taken to the facilities, the statement said.
Mr Biden, a Democrat who took office in January, has rolled back many of the harsh immigration measures of his Republican predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
But he has been caught between pro-migrant groups and some Democrats, who have criticized him for not doing more to help migrants, and opponents who say his policies have encouraged illegal immigration.
Del Rio is in Val Verde County, which voted for Trump in 2020. Some residents of this sprawling, bilingual border town say they feel abandoned by the federal government over border security.
“Are they doing something to stop them from coming?” A woman said she was looking down at the cantonment while driving on the bridge.
‘When are we all leaving?’
Carlos, 27, from Venezuela, who said he left his home after graduating from university in July, said he felt the size of the camp had doubled since arriving on Tuesday. Mr Carlos, who declined to give his full name, said he had only $10 left, and that 400 families are queuing up for processing ahead of him.
Both migrants and Mexican officials said many more were expected in the coming days. Some told Reuters they chose to cross here because the river is shallow and thought cartel activity was comparatively low.
Jeff Jean, a 27-year-old Haitian who was reselling water bottles for a profit of 3 pesos (15 percent), said he and his young family were tired, hungry and sleeping on the ground. He was worried about his children falling ill in the makeshift camp.
“My ten-year-old asks: ‘When are we leaving?’ That’s what he’s always asking.”
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