Inside refugee camps in Chile where thousands of Haitians lived before marching ...

Inside refugee camps in Chile where thousands of Haitians lived before marching ...
Inside refugee camps in Chile where thousands of Haitians lived before marching ...

When thousands of Haitian nationals embarked on the treacherous journey to the US border through South America, they set off with hopes of finding better living conditions than the ones they left behind at ramshackle refugee camps in Chile.   

But when the massive migrant caravan crossed the Rio Grande into Del Rio, Texas earlier this month, they found themselves going from bad to worse, with 15,000 of them being forced to take shelter in dirty makeshift camps under a bridge. 

They'd soon be dealt another cruel twist as majority are now facing deportation to their impoverished island homeland, where many of them have not lived for several years. 

DailyMail.com has learned that many of the Haitians who made the trek to the US border were living in Brazil and the capital city of Santiago, Chile, where they were placed in shanty migrant camps after being granted asylum years ago.     

The settlements, made up of small wooden shacks with tin roofs, aren't far off from the conditions they faced in their homeland, but still better than the squalid encampments they are now sleeping in in the US.

This is one of the Haitian refugees camps in Santiago, Chile, where many of the 15,000 migrants camping under a bridge in Texas were living before setting off to the US border

This is one of the Haitian refugees camps in Santiago, Chile, where many of the 15,000 migrants camping under a bridge in Texas were living before setting off to the US border 

Many Haitians desperate to leave their impoverished island country began to look to South America as a haven following the 2010 earthquake and have settled in cities such as Santiago, Chile and Sao Paulo, Brazil over the years

Many Haitians desperate to leave their impoverished island country began to look to South America as a haven following the 2010 earthquake and have settled in cities such as Santiago, Chile and Sao Paulo, Brazil over the years 

DailyMail.com has learned that the majority of Haitians in Del Rio, Texas had been living in Chile for the past five or six years as refugees. Pictured: A Haitian woman helps her son walk through a migrant camp in Santiago on September 22

DailyMail.com has learned that the majority of Haitians in Del Rio, Texas had been living in Chile for the past five or six years as refugees. Pictured: A Haitian woman helps her son walk through a migrant camp in Santiago on September 22

The settlements, made up of small wooden shacks with tin roofs, aren't far off from the conditions they faced in their homeland, but are still better than the squalid encampments they are staying in now in the US

The settlements, made up of small wooden shacks with tin roofs, aren't far off from the conditions they faced in their homeland, but are still better than the squalid encampments they are staying in now in the US  

In Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, dozens of Chilean identity cards litter the ground, all bearing distinctly non-Hispanic names.

There is Prosper Pierre for instance, or Linode Lafleur or Eddyson Jean-Charles. None of the cards carries a name such as Gonzalez or Muñoz or Rojas.

A closer look shows three telling letters - HTI - on the cards where they ask for the bearer's nationality.

These are the discarded ID cards of Haitians who have turned up in Del Rio by the thousands.

Many of them haven't come from Port-au-Prince or Cap-Haïtien or any other city in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, but from Santiago, Chile.

'As one put it to me, "I love Chile, it's 1,000 times better than Haiti," migration expert Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies told DailyMail.com.

Nearly 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants have assembled around and under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, a town of only 35,000 people

Nearly 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants have assembled around and under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, a town of only 35,000 people

A makeshift border migrant camp is seen at daybreak along the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, on Wednesday

A makeshift border migrant camp is seen at daybreak along the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, on Wednesday 

Haitian girls are pictured in a makeshift encampment where tens of thousands hoping to enter the United States await under the international bridge in Del Rio

Haitian girls are pictured in a makeshift encampment where tens of thousands hoping to enter the United States await under the international bridge in Del Rio

The options remaining for thousands of Haitian migrants straddling the Mexico-Texas border are narrowing as the United States government ramps up to an expected six expulsion flights to Haiti and Mexico began busing some away from the border

The options remaining for thousands of Haitian migrants straddling the Mexico-Texas border are narrowing as the United States government ramps up to an expected six expulsion flights to Haiti and Mexico began busing some away from the border

'But I want to come to the United States, that's a million times better.' 

The majority of the Haitian migrants have come from Chile - the wealthiest country in Latin America - and Brazil - the fifth wealthiest - where they have been living in modest comfort in Santiago and São Paulo for the past five or six years.

There are an estimated 150,000 Haitians in Chile and around 125,000 in Brazil - tiny fractions of the two million that live in the United States.

But as US immigration rules became tougher, people desperate to leave the impoverished island began to look to South America as a haven.

Bensman revealed that he has not met any Haitian in Del Rio or Acuna who has come directly from their Caribbean-island homeland.

'None of these Haitians are from Haiti. None of them. These Haitians are all from Chile and Brazil,' he said. 

'When Biden got in, word went out and they decided, we're coming now. That was the decision point. I've interviewed 60 to 70 Haitians over the last year and it's always the same story – Joe Biden opened the border so we decided we could upgrade our lifestyle. 

'I interviewed a guy an hour ago who said he was living in Brazil and making good money but he said he heard everyone was getting into America so he came.'

Migrants wait on the Rio Grande to cross to the United States, in Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila state, Mexico on September 18

Migrants wait on the Rio Grande to cross to the United States, in Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila state, Mexico on September 18

Thousands of Haitian migrants are seen in the makeshift camp under the Del Rio bridge in Texas Tuesday awaiting processing

Thousands of Haitian migrants are seen in the makeshift camp under the Del Rio bridge in Texas Tuesday awaiting processing

The immigrants traveled up from South America on a path that took them through Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala before landing in a camp across the Mexican border in Tapachula.

There they stayed at the behest of the Biden administration who pressured Mexican authorities not to let them come further north.

That was until Sunday September 12, when Mexico suddenly said they are free to go, said Bensman.

So they headed for the United States. Del Rio was the destination of choice because unlike most other places on the border the local branch of the Los Zetos cartel allows them to cross for free, DailyMail.com has learned.

In most Mexican frontier towns, coyotes charge fees of up to $10,000 per head to smuggle people across the

read more from dailymail.....

PREV Revealed: The 'fawning' BBC Newsnight documentary about two Syrian refugee ... trends now
NEXT In news vacuum, rumours and concern swirl over Catherine mogaznewsen