Protesters tell Al Sharpton 'we don't want your racism in Texas' - forcing him to cut short his tour of Del Rio bridge - as camp clears but more migrants are still marching to the border

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Al Sharpton's press conference at the Haitian migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas descended into farce on Thursday, as hecklers cut him short, accusing him of exploiting the crisis. 

Sharpton was forced to end his speech after just over two minutes, as he was shouted down by furious hecklers with one yelling, 'we don't want your racism in Texas'.

The squalid border camp which held up to 15,000 at one point last weekend has now shrunk to under 3,000, as immigration officials rushed to release thousands of migrants into the US, but another camp is growing across the Rio Grande in Mexico.     

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday that as many as 2,000 Haitians had been released into the US pending hearings - but failed to reveal where a further 3,000 are. 

At his disastrous press conference, Sharpton began his statement by slamming US Customs and Border Patrol for using 'slave-like tactics' against the migrants. 

Civil rights activist and MSNBC host Al Sharpton shut down a press conference at the southern border encampment in Del Rio, Texas Thursday after being consistently heckled

Demonstrators protest the arrival of civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton at the Del Rio International Airport on Thursday

Even as Sharpton spoke, the migrant camp in Del Rio had largely been cleared out, with thousands released into the US

The remnants of the encampment near the Del Rio International Bridge are seen on Friday after it was largely cleared out

Migrants, many from Haiti, wait in lines to board buses under the Del Rio International Bridge on Friday in Del Rio, Texas

U.S. Border Patrol agents watch as Haitian immigrant families cross the Rio Grande from into Del Rio, Texas on Thursday from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. Mexican immigration officials had launched an operation in a small migrant camp on the Mexican side of the river and many families, fearing deportation, surged across the border to take their chances on the U.S. side

'We went for an hour and toured the place that we feel is a real catastrophic and human disgrace as people around this world watch the Border Patrol use slave-like techniques — mounted on horses,' Sharpton said. 'It compelled us to come and show our voices and our presence.' 

At least two hecklers began asking Sharpton 'how much money are you making out of this?' and 'why are you stoking racism where it doesn't exist?'

Sharpton attempted to continue by calling for ICE officers to be 'fully investigated' and for 'those that were fully involved to face justice.' 

He also said that there should be 'full asylum rights given to those that deserve it.' 

The protesters only got louder, crying that Del Rio was not a racist city and that 'we don't want your racism in Texas!'     

'The Trump supporters and the right-wingers can scream all they want,' Sharpton fired back. 'We gon' continue to come back. We gon' stand with our people to make sure that asylum [seekers] is treated in one way and one manner. And we will continue to come back over and over again.'

After two-and-a-half minutes and continued heckling for Sharpton to pay taxes and calling him a 'race-baiter,' Sharpton eventually turned away from the microphone. 

The National Action Network founder attempted to give a speech after touring the area linking Del Rio with Ciudad Acuna, Mexico , where thousands of migrants from Latin American and Caribbean countries have stayed in recent weeks

The protesters only got louder, crying that Del Rio was not a racist city and that 'we don't want your racism in Texas!'

Sharpton began his statement by slamming US Customs and Border Patrol for using 'slave-like tactics' against the migrants

After two-and-a-half minutes and continued heckling for Sharpton to pay taxes and calling him a 'race-baiter,' Sharpton eventually turned away from the microphone

Demonstrators protest the arrival of Rev. Al Sharpton at the Del Rio International Airport on Thursday in Del Rio, Texas

People participate in a protest against the visit of civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton after his arrival at Del Rio

In Mexico, Haitian immigrants waited to cross the Rio Grande on Thursday. The camp on the Mexican side has been growing, though Mexican officials have surrounded it and are telling migrants they will be deported to Haiti if they enter the US

Official vehicles line a dirt road along the Rio Grande on Friday in Del Rio where they are the lookout for illegal crossings

The camp had swelled to some 15,000 migrants at one point, with thousands seen wading across the Rio Grande River daily. Many are Haitians who were previously granted asylum in Chile, with some Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans also present. 

It came as a the border crisis entered a new phase, after President Joe Biden's administration largely cleared out the squalid border camp, but failed to account for the fate of thousands of migrants.

Secretary Mayorkas said on Thursday that 2,000 Haitians had been released into the US pending hearings, and DHS previously said that 1,401 were sent back to Haiti and 3,206 remain in custody. 

This left thousands unaccounted for of the 15,000 total migrants that filled the camp at its peak. 

Mayorkas appeared on CNN Thursday evening and was asked repeatedly about how many Haitians have been released into the US pending the outcome of their immigration proceedings – and repeatedly declined to provide a specific numerical figure. 

'We believe it is a very small percentage of the total that assembled in Del Rio Texas, and that will be removed,' Mayorkas responded, on a day when the US special envoy for Haiti resigned in protest of US policy on deportations.

Interviewer Wolf Blitzer noted that about 15,000 Haitians had gathered. He tried to get Mayorkas to reveal how many had been released.

'What about the rest?' Blitzer pressed.

'If it's 10 per cent, or 15, I don't have the precise numbers,' Mayorkas responded. That would put the figure at between 1,500 and 2,250 – although Mayorkas avoided specifics.  

'I assure you it's a minority of the individuals, for the reasons that I have articulated, and they are placed in immigration enforcement proceedings, where they are able, where they appear before a judge. And if in fact they make a valid claim to remain in the United States, then of course, we honor that and if not they are removed as well,' he continued. 

He also addressed blistering criticism by pointing to Centers for Disease Control regulations under Title 42 – with removals pegged to the coronavirus crisis.  

'It's very important to underscore the fact that this is not a matter of immigration policy, but rather this is a matter of public health policy,' he said. 'We are applying the law, pursuant to an order that the Centers for Disease Control, issued in light of the fact that this country and the world is in the midst of a pandemic,' he added. 

'We are exercising that authority as we are required to do to protect the health and well-being of the migrants themselves, our personnel, local communities and the American public.'

Adding to the farce of Sharpton's visit, the camp that he intended to visit had been largely cleared by Thursday 

An area where about 15,000 migrants, many from Haiti, were camping out along the Del Rio International Bridge is seen with a large portion of the area cleaned up as authorities continue to process and remove them

A migrant child is seen Thursday holding items at an encampment under the Del Rio International Bridge where migrants, many from Haiti, have been staying after crossing the Rio Grande

State troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety stand next to a line of law enforcement vehicles facing the U.S. Mexico border near a makeshift border camp along the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on Thursday

Meanwhile Mexican forces have surrounded a second camp that is growing on the Mexican side of the border, where some migrants are gathering to assess their chances of successfully entering the US illegally.  

Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) is starting to return migrants to the southern Mexican city of Tapachula so they can file asylum applications there.

'We're not taking them out of the country,' INM chief Francisco Garduno told Reuters. 'We're bringing them away from the border so there are no hygiene and overcrowding problems.'

Telling migrants eyeing the U.S. side of the border that it would be better to process claims before the media disappeared from Del Rio and Ciudad Acuna, INM agents swept through the camp on Thursday beseeching them to go back to Tapachula.

'We're giving you this option,' INM official Montserrat Saldana told a cluster of migrants circled around her. 'All of you who cross the river are going straight to Haiti.'

About 3,000 remained in the US camp late Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said. The number peaked Saturday as migrants driven by confusion over the Biden administration´s policies and misinformation on social media converged at the border crossing trying to seek asylum.

The administration recently extended protections for more than 100,000 Haitians already in the U.S. - many of whom left their homeland after its devastating 2010 earthquake - citing security concerns and social unrest in the Western Hemisphere´s poorest country. 

But the protective status was not supposed to apply to new arrivals.     

A Haitian migrant pleas with a Mexican police officer blocking access to the Rio Grande river so that immigrants can't use it to cross the U.S.-Mexico border from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico on Thursday

The camp had swelled to some 10,000 migrants at one point, with thousands seen wading across the Rio Grande River daily

U.S. special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, submitted a letter of resignation protesting the 'inhumane' large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants

Meanwhile, the U.S. special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, submitted a letter of resignation protesting the 'inhumane' large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants.

Foote, who was appointed in July, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying he was stepping down immediately 'with deep disappointment and apologies to those seeking crucial changes.'

'I will not be associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs to daily life,' he wrote. 'Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my policy recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.'

The career diplomat was known to be deeply frustrated with what he considered a lack of urgency in Washington and a glacial pace on efforts to improve conditions in Haiti.

State Department spokesman Ned Price disputed Foote´s assertions, saying his proposals had been 'fully considered in a rigorous and transparent policy process.'

'Some of those proposals were determined to be harmful to our commitment to the promotion of democracy in Haiti and were rejected during the policy process. For him to say his proposals were ignored is simply false,' Price said.

Squalid Del Rio camp starts to be cleared as DHS chief finally admits 2,000 migrants have been released into the US but fails to address where up to 3,000 missing migrants are located 

Aerial photos of the Haitian migrant camp in Del Rio along the Texas border taken less than a week apart show the drastic reduction in size.

As recently as this weekend, there were about 15,000 Haitians in Del Rio hoping to get asylum in the United States after they fled their country that has been torn apart by political turmoil following the Haitian president's assassination and an earthquake that killed at least 2,200.

On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on CNN that as many as 2,000 Haitians had been released into the US pending hearings - but failed to identify where the remaining 3,000 are.

The revelation came after the DHS revealed that of the 15,000 total; 1,401 were sent back to Haiti on 12 flights, 3,206 remain in custody, and 5,000 are still camped out beneath the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas.

Haitian migrants take shelter along the Del Rio International Bridge at sunset as they await to be processed after crossing the Rio Grande river into the U.S. from Ciudad Acuna in Del Rio, Texas on September 19

The area where about 14,000 mainly-Haitian migrants were camping along the Del Rio International Bridge is seen on Thursday. A large portion of the makeshift camp was cleared after as authorities continue to process and remove the people

This left 5,000 unaccounted for. Now Mayorkas appears to have addressed where 2,000 of them are, but that still leaves 3,000 missing from official figures. 

Mayorkas was asked repeatedly about how many Haitians have been released into the US pending the outcome of their immigration proceedings – and repeatedly declined to provide a specific numerical figure. 

'We believe it is a very small percentage of the total that assembled in Del Rio Texas, and that will be removed,' Mayorkas responded, on a day when the US special envoy for Haiti resigned in protest of US policy on deportations.

Rep. Tony Gonzales - a Texas Republican who whose district encompasses Del Rio - ripped Mayorkas and said he was trying to 'bulls**t' him. 

'No, don't tell me, 'Everything's under control.' It's not under control,' Gonzales told the Washington Examiner. 

'You can bulls**t somebody else, but you can't bulls**t me,' he told The Washington Examiner. 'It was kind of like, dismissive a little bit, and that's a problem, especially when you're talking about national security. Like, there are no second chances. You have to get it right every single time, or it's game over.' 

Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. cross the Rio Grande river into the U.S. after leaving a makeshift migrant camp

Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. cross the Rio Grande river into the U.S. after leaving makeshift migrant camp in Braulio Fernandez Ecological Park in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico on Thursday

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on a boat rescue a Haitian migrant woman from the Rio Grande river at the Mex ico-US border near Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila state, Mexico on Thursday

Sources told the Washington Examiner that the Biden administration had set a deadline of Friday night to have the camp completely cleared. 

The order from the West Wing reportedly came amid concerns over a Black Lives Matter protest scheduled to take place near the bridge this weekend. 

'They don't want them all riled up,' an official told the paper, referring to U.S. authorities and the Haitian migrants respectively. 

An official also said the order to clear the camp was partly to resolve an 'optics' problem.

They want those people out from under that bridge so they can't be seen anymore,' they said. 'It's an optics thing. They are moving them around for process and release. They're going to have everyone at the bridge gone in the next two days.' 

Homeland Security had planned to ramp up to seven daily flights but flew only three Wednesday and five Thursday because of issues with contractors and mechanical delays, the official told the Associated Press. 

Seven flights were scheduled to Haiti on Friday, six on Saturday and seven on Sunday. 

During Thursday evening's interview with CNN, interviewer Wolf Blitzer noted that about 15,000 Haitians had gathered and press Mayorkas to account for all 5,000. 

Mayorkas ran through the numbers, and Blitzer followed up with, 'What about the rest?'

DHS Secretary Mayorkas said Thursday that 10-15 percent of 15,000 Haitians gathered at the bridge in Del Rio, Texas have been released into the country pending their immigration hearings but failed to say where 3,000 unaccounted migrants are

'If it's 10 percent, or 15, I don't have the precise numbers,' Mayorkas responded. That would put the figure between 1,500 and 2,250 – although Mayorkas avoided specifics.  

'I assure you it's a minority of the individuals, for the reasons that I have articulated, and they are placed in immigration enforcement proceedings, where they are able, where they appear before a judge. And if in fact they make a valid claim to remain in the United States, then of course, we honor that and if not they are removed as well,' he continued. 

Mayorkas also addressed blistering criticism by pointing to Centers for Disease Control regulations under Title 42 – with removals pegged to the coronavirus crisis.  

'It's very important to underscore the fact that this is not a matter of immigration policy, but rather this is a matter of public health policy,' he said. 

'We are applying the law, pursuant to an order that the Centers for Disease Control, issued in light of the fact that this country and the world is in the midst of a pandemic

'We are exercising that authority as we are required to do to protect the health and well-being of the migrants themselves, our personnel, local communities and the American public.'

Mayorkas responded to the resignation letter put out by U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote who left his job on Wednesday.

'What I what I wish the individual had done is stayed with the cause of addressing the needs of individuals, all throughout the Western Hemisphere and dedicating the resources and the talent and the energies of the men and women in the United States government to rebuild our humanitarian relief capabilities – just as we are doing now in the Biden-Harris administration.'     

The U.S. special envoy for Haiti resigned on Wednesday because he didn't want to be involved with the 'inhumane' deportation of Haitian migrants.

'I will not be associated with the United States [sic] inhumane, counterproductive, decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs in control of daily life,' Ambassador Daniel Foote wrote in his resignation letter, first shared by a PBS reporter on Twitter.

A migrant seeking refuge in the United States is pictured with members of Mexico's National Institute of Migration before crossing the Rio Grande river into Texas

People continued to make the crossing into the United States on Thursday, wading through the Rio Grande River from Ciudad Acuna in Mexico towards Del Rio Texas

Border Patrol agents await the arrival of Migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas on Thursday

Border Patrol agents pass by Haitian families wrapped up for warmth after crossing the Rio Grande River to reach the U.S. from Mexico

In the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foote said another reason for his resignation is that his recommendations to help Haiti have been 'ignored and dismissed'. 

'Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed,' Foote continued in his letter, 'and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.' 

A State Department spokesperson accused Foote of 'mischaracterizing the circumstances of his resignation' and said some of his ideas were deemed 'harmful.'

'[A]ll proposals, including those led by Special Envoy Foote, were fully considered in a rigorous and transparent policy process,' a statement from the spokesperson reads. 'Some of those proposals were determined to be harmful to our commitment to the promotion of democracy in Haiti and were rejected during the policy process.'

'For him to to say that his proposals were ignored is simply false,' they added.

The statement claims: 'It is unfortunate that, instead of participating in a solutions-oriented policy process, Special Envoy Foote has both resigned and mischaracterized the circumstances of his resignation.'

Foote blamed Biden for making things worse in Haiti by backing the 'unelected' leader after the coup, claiming that 'picking the winner' will produce 'catastrophic results'.

'Last week, the U.S. and other embassies in Port-au-Prince issued another public statement of support for the unelected, de facto Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry as interim leader of Haiti, and have continued to tout his 'political agreement' over another broader, earlier accord shepherded by civil society,' he wrote.

Foote added: 'The hubris that makes us believe we should pick the winner – again – is impressive.'

'This cycle of international political interventions in Haiti has consistently produced catastrophic results,' he said. 'The negative impact to Haiti will have calamitous consequences not only in Haiti, but in the U.S. and our neighbors in the hemisphere.'