Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday that as many as 2,000 Haitians had been released into the US pending hearings - but failed to reveal where a further 3,000 are.
Mayorkas appeared on CNN Thursday evening and said that up to 15 per cent of the total 15,000 immigrants had been released.
However, he failed to say where a further 3,000 missing migrants are.
It came after the DHS revealed Thursday that of the 15,000 total; 1,401 were sent back to Haiti on 12 flights, 3,206 remain in custody, and 5,000 are camped out beneath the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas.
This left 5,000 unaccounted for. Mayorkas has now indicated that 2,000 have been released, but mystery still surrounds the whereabouts of the further 3,000.
Mayorkas was asked repeatedly about how many Haitians have been released into the US pending the outcome of their immigration proceedings – and repeatedly declined to provide a specific numerical figure.
'We believe it is a very small percentage of the total that assembled in Del Rio Texas, and that will be removed,' Mayorkas responded, on a day when the US special envoy for Haiti resigned in protest of US policy on deportations.
Interviewer Wolf Blitzer noted that about 15,000 Haitians had gathered. He tried to get Mayorkas to reveal how many had been released.
DHS Secretary Mayorkas said Thursday that 10-15 per cent of 15,000 Haitians gathered at the bridge in Del Rio, Texas have been released into the country pending their immigration hearings
'What about the rest?' Blitzer pressed.
'If it's 10 per cent, or 15, I don't have the precise numbers,' Mayorkas responded. That would put the figure at between 1,500 and 2,250 – although Mayorkas avoided specifics.
'I assure you it's a minority of the individuals, for the reasons that I have articulated, and they are placed in immigration enforcement proceedings, where they are able, where they appear before a judge. And if in fact they make a valid claim to remain in the United States, then of course, we honor that and if not they are removed as well,' he continued.
He also addressed blistering criticism by pointing to Centers for Disease Control regulations under Title 42 – with removals pegged to the coronavirus crisis.
'It's very important to underscore the fact that this is not a matter of immigration policy, but rather this is a matter of public health policy,' he said. 'We are applying the law, pursuant to an order that the Centers for Disease Control, issued in light of the fact that this country and the world is in the midst of a pandemic,' he added.
'We are exercising that authority as we are required to do to protect the health and well-being of the migrants themselves, our personnel, local communities and the American public.'
![U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote resigned on Wednesday, claiming: 'I will not be associated with the United States [sic] inhumane, counterproductive, decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/23/23/48288115-0-U_S_Special_Envoy_for_Haiti_Daniel_Foote_resigned_on_Wednesday_c-a-5_1632436483663.jpg)
U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote resigned on Wednesday, claiming: 'I will not be associated with the United States [sic] inhumane, counterproductive, decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti'
Mayorkas responded to the blistering resignation letter put out by U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote resigned on Wednesday.
'What I what I wish the individual had done is stayed with the cause of addressing the needs of individuals, all throughout the Western Hemisphere and dedicating the resources and the talent and the energies of the men and women in the United States government to rebuild our humanitarian relief capabilities – just as we are doing now in the Biden-Harris administration.'
The U.S. special envoy for Haiti resigned on Wednesday because he didn't want to be involved with the 'inhumane' deportation of Haitian migrants.
'I will not be associated with the United States [sic] inhumane, counterproductive, decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs in control of daily life,' Ambassador Daniel Foote wrote in his resignation letter, first shared by a PBS reporter on Twitter.
In the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foote said another reason for his resignation is that his recommendations to help Haiti have been 'ignored and dismissed'.
'Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed,' Foote continued in his letter, 'and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.'
A State Department spokesperson accused Foote of 'mischaracterizing the circumstances of his resignation' and said some of his ideas were deemed 'harmful.'
'[A]ll proposals, including those led by Special Envoy Foote, were fully considered in a rigorous and transparent policy process,' a statement from the spokesperson reads. 'Some of those proposals were determined to be harmful to our commitment to the promotion of democracy in Haiti and were rejected during the policy process.'
'For him to to say that his proposals were ignored is simply false,' they added.
The statement claims: 'It is unfortunate that, instead of participating in a solutions-oriented policy process, Special Envoy Foote has both resigned and mischaracterized the circumstances of his resignation.'
Foote blamed Biden for making things worse in Haiti by backing the 'unelected' leader after the coup, claiming that 'picking the winner' will produce 'catastrophic results'.
'Last week, the U.S. and other embassies in Port-au-Prince issued another public statement of support for the unelected, de facto Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry as interim leader of Haiti, and have continued to tout his 'political agreement' over another broader, earlier accord shepherded by civil society,' he wrote.
Foote added: 'The hubris that makes us believe we should pick the winner – again – is impressive.'
'This cycle of international political interventions in Haiti has consistently produced catastrophic results,' he said. 'The negative impact to Haiti will have calamitous consequences not only in Haiti, but in the U.S. and our neighbors in the hemisphere.'
The resignation comes as the U.S. migration crisis surged in the past few weeks when up to 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants set up an encampment near the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas.
Migrants from Haiti wait in line on Thursday to board buses near the Del Rio International Bridge
A migrant family stands on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River on Thursday, September 23 and another brushes his teeth after crossing the river into Del Rio, Texas
In Foote's resignation letter, he blamed the Biden administration for exacerbating the issues in Haiti, claiming his recommendations to help the country have been 'ignored and dismissed'
An aerial view image taken on Thursday shows thousands of mostly Haitian migrants at the encampment along the Del Rio International Bridge
A Haitian migrant with a child on his shoulders crosses the waist-high water in the Rio Grande River into Del Rio from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico on Thursday to the mostly Haitian migration camp near the bridge on the U.S. side
Jen Psaki revealed Thursday that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told civil rights leaders that his agency will not continue to allow agents to operate on horseback at the border in Del Rio.
'I can also convey to you that the secretary also conveyed to civil rights leaders earlier this morning that we would no longer be using horses in Del Rio,' Psaki said during her daily press briefing. 'So that is something – a policy change that has been made in response.'
'We feel those images are horrible and horrific,' she reiterated from her comments in previous days. 'There is an investigation the president certainly supports overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, which he has conveyed will happen quickly.'
The images in question emerged earlier this week with Border Patrol agents on horseback allegedly using either the horses' reins or other lariats as whips when chasing after the mostly Haitian migrants.
Deportation flights ensued on Sunday and continued through the week as planes full of Haitian migrants arrived back in the island capital city of Port-au-Prince.
People are fleeing Haiti and seeking refuge in America after a devastating earthquake and the assassination of their president, which has thrown the country into even more chaos.
Foote said that the deportation back to Haiti will only exacerbate the migration crisis at the southern border.
'The collapsed state is unable to provide security or basic services, and more refugees will further desperation and crime,' the now-former special envoy wrote in his resignation letter of Haiti. 'Surging migration at our borders will only grow as we add to Haiti's unacceptable misery.'
Haitian migrants cross into the U.S. even as deportations have accelerated on the U.S. side of the border
A girl with barbie dolls in her boots waits on Thursday morning in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico to cross the Rio Grande River with her parents into the U.S. despite increased DHS efforts to deport these asylum-seekers to their homeland
Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. are seen holding out at a makeshift camp near the Del Rio border on Wednesday evening
An image taken from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico Wednesday night shows U.S. Border Patrol, Texas Department of Safety and National Guard vehicles shining their lights on the Rio Grande in Del Rio
Foote only served in his post for two months after becoming the U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti in July following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. In the role, Foote served as a member of President Joe Biden's delegation to Moïse's funeral.
Before taking on that role he previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Haiti and as the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia under President Donald Trump.
In November 2019, during his tenure in Zambia, Foote said he was 'horrified' after a judge in the very conservative society where homosexual acts are illegal sentence two men to 15 years in prison after they were caught having sex in 2017.
He received pushback from Zambia's President Edgar Lungu for trying to dictate policy and declared him a persona non grata – or an unacceptable or unwelcome person.
Foote has served with the Department of State since 1998 and has held a litany of roles since then – including in the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico; the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Colombia; deputy chief of mission in both Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and chargé d'affaires in the Dominican Republic.
While many migrants were rounded up and returned to Haiti from the U.S. in the last few days, many began crossing back into Mexico from the border town of Del Rio to avoid deportation to Haiti.
Images began emerging on Sunday of Border Patrol agents and officers on horseback rounding up migrants and preventing them from returning to the makeshift camp near the Del Rio bridge.
Immediately, the images were slammed as 'inhumane' and 'horrific' after some accused the agents of using either the reins or a lariat as a whip on the migrants. Images show a rope-like tool being thrown in the direction of some migrants who were running from the officers.
Agents insist they were not using any whips on migrants, while Mayorkas says those pictured with the ropes have been reassigned to administrative duties pending a full investigation into the incident.
An officer in Haiti blocks Haitian removed from the U.S. on Tuesday from boarding the same plane they were just deported on in an attempt tp return to America
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