Karen Gleason
City, county and federal leaders on Thursday assured Del Rioans they are safe as they addressed rumors surrounding the release of Haitian immigrants in the area.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr., Mayor Pro-tem Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr., Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, Police Chief Fred Knoll Jr. and Border Patrol Del Rio Sector Chief Austin L. Skero II held a joint event Thursday to make statements about the immigrant situation.
All of those involved in the joint statement assured Del Rioans of their safety.
Skero thanked city and county leaders for the opportunity to speak about the most recent migrant situation and said, “I think it’s important that we get together and talk to you a little bit about some of the rumors that have been going on.”
“As most of you know, we have seen an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants coming across the border, but that’s nothing new. We see this from time to time. Six months ago, we saw an increase in the number of Haitians, specifically, coming across,” Skero said.
Skero said the most recent surge was different from that in 2019 because leaders in the area were more prepared.
“The difference between then and now is that we really worked closely with our city and our county partners in advance of this newest increase. We had long conversations with them about how we were going to deal with it. We partnered with our NGOs (non-governmental organizations), to make sure that they were ready as well,” the chief patrol agent said.
Skero said the vast majority of the Haitians captured by the Border Patrol crossing the border illegally will be returned to their country.
“There will be some though, who, for various reasons, that are going to be released on their own recognizance and scheduled for an immigration hearing later, but that number is very small, and this is the group that you’re seeing being released here in town, and they’re working with our NGO partners,” Skero said.
He said the NGOs are providing “humanitarian aid,” assisting the migrants in obtaining transportation out of the border area.
“But these rumors about folks being released from federal detention out into the streets, and folks being released out into busy streets; none of that is true,” Skero said.
“We’ve spent a lot of time working with the county and the city to make sure things like that won’t happen. Primarily, I want everyone to know that Del Rio is a very safe place to be. We’re not doing those things you’re hearing about from some folks. We’re working very closely with our partners to make sure everyone is safe,” the Border Patrol chief said.
Owens underscored Skero’s message that rumors about migrants being released in Del Rio without supervision are false.
“They were not just turned loose and were not put on the streets,” Owens said, noting although some migrants were processed at the civic center, they are now back at the Chihuahua Center.
Carranza, Knoll, Martinez and Owens also made statements during the event.
The 830 Times has requested an interview with Skero about the ongoing situation, and Border Patrol public information officials say that request is being processed.
The video can be viewed in its entirety on the city and school district Facebook pages.
