Thread: A day in the migrant camp of about 14,000, mainly Haitians, near the border bridge in Del Rio, Texas.
2/@CBP doesn’t allow press to enter the camp from the U.S. and closed the border bridge, so I crossed to the East, drove through Mexico and waded across the Rio Grande.
3/Haitian migrants I met spoke Creole to each other, but many also spoke Spanish, some French and English. These guys told me in French that they were deciding whether to return to the camp or stay in Mexico.
4/The sheer number of people at this U.S. camp was striking.
5/Haitians migrants have lived on the Texas banks of the Río Grande for more than a week, long enough for them to build scores of huts from Carrizo cane lining the river. This couple is living in one with their daughter - the mother is 9 months pregnant.
6/I met several pregnant women at the camp today. Charles Slondie, 28, is five months pregnant and has her 2 year old son with her. They left Haiti two months ago. She was trying to get water to mix his powdered formula Sunday - she only had a half bottle.
7/They wanted to show the food each family received for the day. Some are families of five or six.
8/At one point, @CBP agents passed me in horseback. The first pair didn’t stop. The second group asked who I was. I told them I was with @latimes “You might want to leave, it’s not safe here,” one of them said. I thanked him and kept talking to people for a while.
10/I crossed with Haitian migrant Junior Desterville and went with him to see his family and their hut in the camp.
11/Here’s Junior with his 4 year-old daughter Nayalla, their hut area near the border bridge and the ticket they received from @CBP They’re not sure what it means. Other migrants told me people at the camp have been buying lower numbered tickets, hoping to be released sooner.
12/A lot of migrants at the camp - mostly Haitians, but also some Venezuelans - asked me whether they would be deported. They wanted to know why @CBP separated families from single migrants in different fenced areas of the camp - and why more singles have been leaving.
13/Lining up for food, which is kept in the fenced area beyond the bridge where @CBP and National Guard are stationed.
14/Jean Michel said he worried about his one year old daughter, Brihana, who had a fever. There’s no clinic in the camp; no Doctors. Emergencies get taken to the hospital, then returned.
15/Stay tuned to hear Haitian migrants speak for themselves on our @latimes podcast this week - in English and Spanish. Alex Bravener (right) talked to me about his American dream, how he ended up at the camp with his family and what he plans to do next.
16/Crossing back to Mexico, strong currents in the Rio Grande, weeds snagged ankles and others cut their toes on the rocks. Some who couldn't swim grabbed the rope and struggled.
17/I made it back to Acuna, but I'm a strong swimmer and I faltered. It's a dangerous crossing even on a bright, sunny day with help. Migrants are crossing to buy food and water.
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