Panama's foreign minister: Another 60,000 Haitian migrants are headed for the border

We’ve all seen the video of thousands of Haitian migrants camping out under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas but mostly what we’ve heard about that is that some border patrol agents were whipping migrants. That story wasn’t true but the false story blaming the border patrol officials on horseback conveniently drowned out the real story. The scenes of 15,000 migrants under a bridge in Del Rio were not the culmination of Biden’s border crisis, they were just a primer of the next stage of the crisis.

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According to Panama’s Foreign Minister, Erika Mouynes, she warned the administration and anyone else who would listen that this surge was coming. Now she’s warning that was just the beginning. Mouynes told Axios there are as many as 60,000 more Haitian migrants currently making their way north to the US border:

More than 85,000 migrants have passed through Panama since January — most of them Haitians.

  • Roughly 20,000 to 25,000 Haitians have already made the trek to the U.S.-Mexico border, with most being allowed to enter the United States.

  • Beyond those already admitted or deported back to Haiti, another 60,000 are most likely still on their way north, the minister said.

Remember when caravans of a few thousand people were news? Now we have a stream of 60,000, mostly Haitians, on their way. Mouynes told Axios that another 27,000 migrants are expected to try to cross through the jungles from Colombia into Panama over the next month. Panama has set up a quota system with both Colombia and Costa Rica to try to keep the flow of immigrants manageable for everyone. Colombia is currently holding back 30,000 migrants and is said to be “frustrated” that Panama is refusing to accept any more right now.

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Mouynes said there were high level meetings, including officials from the US, about the surge of Haitian migrants in August but she hopes there will be more follow up meetings to come because the surge is not letting up. “Let’s recognize that they all are heading toward the U.S.,” she said.

Does the Biden administration have any plan for this other than letting most of them into the country without a COVID test? Will Biden himself ever go to the border to see where the crisis is unfolding?

Here’s Mouynes talking about the surge on CNN just a week ago. “What you’re seeing right now in Texas, ten or fourteen thousand, there are many more coming that way,” she said. She goes on to make the point that most of these migrants are coming from Haiti to Brazil which encourages them to come in and then passes them along on their way north. So if we want to control this surge, we probably need to be having a discussion with Brazil.

Finally, Sen. Cruz had a meeting with Mouynes this week and is now trying to sound the alarm. Cruz pinned the problem directly on President Biden. “This is all happening because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris refuse to enforce the law and have essentially said, anyone who wants to come to America, they’re going to resettle them, they’re going to give them benefits, they’re going to let them stay,” Cruz said on Fox News

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