The helicopter flew so low at one point, only 20 yards off the ground, it blew debris and dust into our eyes, knocking down makeshift bungalows and tents and forcing the Haitians to flee the chaos. As the Texas Department of Public Safety chopper flew overhead in the Del Rio migrant camp, I spoke to Jean, a 28-year-old woman who was four months pregnant. We struggled to hear each other over the downwash of harassing noise.
The helicopter left and calm returned. Jean, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, sat on the piece of cardboard she bought for 100 pesos. Her 5-year-old son, husband, and two sisters sat beside her in the triple-digit shade. The family was in the holding area near the Del Rio-Acuña bridge awaiting their turn to seek asylum in the United States.
“We left Haiti six years ago,” she said. “A gang killed my older sister. My house was shot at. We had to leave.”
