Thousands of migrants, many fleeing unrest and natural disasters in Haiti, are sheltering under a bridge in Del Rio. The New York Times describes it as a “new humanitarian challenge.”
It’s estimated that more than 10,000 people are living under the bridge in triple-digit heat amid growing squalor.
Arelis Hernández is a Texas-based border correspondent for the Washington Post. She told Texas Standard that many migrants in Del Rio are recent arrivals who got to the United States via South or Central America. But many others are long-term migrants, who may have been living in Chile or other countries for years, and have now decided to enter the United States.
Highlights from this segment:
– The large-scale migration to the Del Rio area does not appear to have been coordinated.
– Del Rio is a popular crossing-point for Haitians, Venezuelans and others who are better able to pay for their migration.
– Conditions under the bridge are chaotic and squalid, with people sleeping on pieces of cardboard.
