- By Bernd Debusmann Jr
- Reporting from El Paso, Texas
Image source, Getty Images
About 10,000 migrants crossed the border every day before Title 42 expired
Thousands of migrants rushed to the US-Mexico border hours before the end of a Trump-era policy allowing their quick removal.
As the policy – known as Title 42 – was about to expire on Thursday night, around 10,000 migrants crossed the nearly 2,000-mile (3,218km) border each day – recording numbers that were almost double the average seen two months ago.
In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said authorities were “prepared for this transfer”.
Ahead of the deadline, an uneasy calm descended on the city limits of El Paso where makeshift migrant camps on city streets were largely cleared.
Still, local authorities and humanitarian organizations are bracing for what some fear could be a difficult influx of migrants to manage.
The city’s mayor, Oscar Leeser, warned that an estimated 10,000 migrants are across El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, waiting for an opportunity to cross.
At the southern border, about 60,000 are believed to be waiting to cross, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told CBS, the BBC’s US affiliate.
“We’re stocking up on food and supplies as much as possible,” said Nicole Reulet, marketing director of Rescue Mission El Paso, a local shelter for migrants. “Never knowing what to expect, or what the numbers are going to look like. It makes it hard for us to prepare.”
As of Thursday, about 25,000 migrants were in Border Patrol custody, far exceeding the agency’s capacity to detain them.
To reduce the overflow, officials plan to release the migrants and tell them to report to the immigration office within 60 days. That effort, however, was blocked by a federal judge in Florida. The Biden administration is expected to appeal.
Many migrants in El Paso told the BBC they rushed to the border before the policy change, unsure of what the change meant and confused by rumors and disinformation.
Among them were Jon Uzcategui and his girlfriend Esmaily, both 24 and from Venezuela, who said they were frustrated after multiple attempts to book an asylum appointment using the Customs and Border Patrol-run app – CBP One – failed.
They say they were told — falsely — by smugglers and other migrants that they would be deported immediately if they presented themselves to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, prompting them to illegally cross the barriers that separate the El Paso and Mexico.
“We trusted them, and started moving to the US. But we were stopped by a roadblock,” said Mr Uzcategui, who was eventually paroled in El Paso after his asylum claim was heard. “The agents told us everything was a lie.”
“All the migrants are talking about 11 May,” he added. “But there are a lot of rumors. We just know something is changing.”
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Far from the border, other cities – including Chicago and New York – have reported that they are struggling to cope with large numbers of migrants traveling from the southern border.
With Title 42 in place, US authorities have quickly removed migrants crossing the border from Mexico – including asylum seekers – using the pandemic as justification.
About 2.8 million people have been deported under Title 42 since it took effect in March 2020, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
Before the end of Title 42, US officials unveiled a raft of new measures aimed at stemming the flow of migrants, including the opening of processing centers in the Latin American region and expanded use of CBP One to book appointments.
Many, however, will face legal challenges. Those who cross illegally will be deported to their home country or Mexico, barred from re-entering the US for at least five years, and “presumed ineligible for asylum”, according to Customs and Border Protection.
Under Title 42, there are no such consequences.
“Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful channel will be considered ineligible for asylum,” Mr Mayorkas said in a statement before the policy expired. “We are willing to humanely process and remove people who do not have a legal basis to be in the US.”
“The border is not open,” he added.
Despite a warning earlier this week from U.S. President Joe Biden that the border could be “in chaos” in the hours following Title 42, Raul Ortiz of the Border Patrol said he doesn’t expect one you “great influx” in the near future.
“We’re really past the surge,” Mr. Ortiz was quoted by the El Paso Times.
New steps taken by immigration officials and efforts to allay the fears of local residents have done little to reassure the majority of those helping migrants in El Paso.
“This is a huge challenge for us,” said Susan Goodell, the chief executive of the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank, which feeds hundreds of migrants every day on the city’s streets.
“We are preparing, as much as we can, to find the food we need to feed the people living on the streets or in the shelters,” he said. “With the lifting of Title 42, we think it will be a short time before we start seeing more migrants coming into the community again.”
In the longer term, repealing Title 42 is likely to be a contentious issue in US politics. House Republicans, for example, are already considering a package of immigration bills, though they have little chance of passing a Democratic-controlled Senate.
The number of migrants at the US border has risen sharply since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, driven in part by economic problems, insecurity and political repression in countries including Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Since the beginning of his administration, a record 4.6 million have been caught crossing illegally.
It has been decades since the US passed any bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform.
(With additional reporting by Angelica Casas)
