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Photos: U.S. begins removing Haitian migrants, but they continue to flock to Texas border

Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico from Del Rio, Texas on September 20, 2021.
Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, and back into Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. As U.S. immigration authorities began deporting immigrants back to Haiti from Del Rio, thousands waited in a camp under an international bridge in Del Rio while others crossed the river back into Mexico to avoid deportation.
(John Moore/Getty Images)
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The Biden administration began making good on its promise to send Haitian migrants in Del Rio back to their homeland, the Associated Press reported. The U.S. sent back three flights of migrants taken from the camp, and the number of flights is expected to reach at least six a day shortly, according to a U.S. government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not allowed to discuss the issue publicly.

The planes left from San Antonio, the AP reported, and arrived Sunday afternoon in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, each carrying 145 passengers.

Families on the first flight held children by the hand or carried them as they exited. Dozens lined up for a meal of rice, beans, chicken and plantains while pondering where they would find housing or jobs. Each was given $100 and tested for COVID-19, though there was no plan to place any in quarantine, said Marie-Lourde Jean-Charles with the Office of National Migration.

Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico from Del Rio, Texas, on Monday
Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, from Del Rio, Texas, on Monday to avoid deportation by the U.S.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
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Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico from Del Rio, Texas
Some Haitians try crossing the Rio Grande while holding their belongings in a garbage bag.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
A man shields his face as he crosses the Rio Grande with a youngster on his shoulders
A man shields his face as he crosses the Rio Grande with a youngster on his shoulders.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
A long line of Haitian immigrants emerges from the banks of the Rio Grande and back onto Mexican soil.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
A Haitian immigrant is up to his chin in water as he crosses the Rio Grande back into Mexico.
(John Moore/Getty Images)
Immigrants, mostly from Haiti, gather on the banks of the Rio Grande in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
U.S. Border Patrol agents watch as Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico from Del Rio, Texas
U.S. Border Patrol agents watch as Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico from Del Rio, Texas.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
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A Haitian immigrant falls in the mud after wading across the Rio Grande and back onto Mexico's shore.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
An exhausted Haitian father cradles his son on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande
An exhausted Haitian father cradles his son on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
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