Del Rio Port of Entry in Texas to reopen more than a week after migrant surge

By Rosa Flores, Conor Powell and Ray Sanchez, CNN

The Del Rio Port of Entry in Texas was to reopen to vehicle traffic Saturday afternoon after a week-long shutdown prompted by a surge of migrants along the border with Mexico.

Vehicle and pedestrian traffic was to resume at 4 p.m. local time Saturday, and cargo traffic was to restart on Monday morning, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The popular port of entry connecting the Texas city of Del Rio with Ciudad Acuña in Mexico temporarily closed September 17 after the migrants — many of them Haitian — converged at a makeshift camp under the international bridge to await processing by immigration authorities.

At times the number of migrants topped 14,000.

Bridge traffic was rerouted to the Eagle Pass Port of Entry.

Chaotic scenes at the Del Rio bridge, including border agents on horseback using aggressive tactics against migrants, sparked anger from both local and federal officials and a border crisis for the Biden administration.

After several days of living in squalid conditions under the bridge, the last remaining migrants began departing the camp Friday on buses for CBP processing centers.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 3,900 Haitians have been moved from the Del Rio camp to CBP custody or other sectors of the border to be processed.

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