U.S. flies migrants caught at Canada border to Texas in deterrence effort

Migrants await for transport while being detained by border patrol agents for hiding in thick brush after they crossed the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico, in La Joya, Texas, U.S., March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

U.S. authorities have been flying migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Canada border to Texas as part of a deterrence effort to tackle a rise in crossings, according to authorities, flight records and a Reuters witness.

U.S. Border Patrol has quietly transported about 100 migrants this month on two charter flights from Plattsburgh, New York, near the border with Canada, to the Texas cities of Harlingen and El Paso.