BREAKING: The Biden administration is planning to send a “massive” number of migrants from the Texas border to Haiti on flights starting Sunday, a U.S. official said. Plans have not been finalized, but officials are considering five to eight flights a day. https://t.co/HiJvYjzugF

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 18, 2021

DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — A US official says the Biden administration is planning “massive movements” of Haitian migrants in a small Texas border town on flights to Haiti starting Sunday.

Plans have yet to be finalized, but officials are considering five to eight flights a day. San Antonio, the nearest major city, may be one of the departure cities. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The flights represent a swift and dramatic response to thousands of Haitian migrants who have assembled under or around a bridge in Del Rio, Texas.

The U.S has been expelling many Central Americans to Mexico under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants an opportunity to claim asylum. But Mexican authorities will not accept Haitians and other nationalities.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it has closed vehicle and pedestrian traffic in both directions on the Del Rio bridge.