A Trump-era policy that allowed for the swift expulsion of migrants expired early Friday, May 12, 2023.
As the policy, known as Title 42, got closer to its end on Thursday, May 11, 2023 night, about 10,000 migrants were crossing the nearly 2,000-mile (3,218km) border each day; record numbers nearly double the average seen just two months ago.
The Title 42 policy was in place since March 2020. They allowed border officials to quickly return migrants back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
According to US Customs and Border Protection, about 2.8 million people were expelled under Title 42 since it was implemented in 2020.
Ahead of Title 42’s expiry, US officials disclosed a raft of new measures aimed at curtailing the movement of migrants, including the opening of regional processing centres in Latin America and expanded use of CBP One app to book appointments. If successful, the reforms could fundamentally alter how migrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The new policies crack down on illegal crossings while also setting up legal pathways for migrants who apply online, seek a sponsor and undergo background checks.
However, many asylum seekers will face legal challenges. Those crossing illegally will be deported to their home country or Mexico, barred from re-entering the US for at least five years, and be “presumed ineligible for asylum”, Customs and Border Protection stated. There were no such consequences under Title 42.
Just before the policy expired, Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas noted in a statement, “Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum. We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to be in the US.” “The border is not open,” he added.
To reduce overflow, officials had planned to release migrants and tell them to report to an immigration office within 60 days. That effort, however, was blocked by a federal judge in Florida. Earlier on Thursday, May 11, 2023, the Justice Department stated that its new move was a response to an emergency and being prevented from carrying it out “could overwhelm the border and raise serious health and safety risks to noncitizens and immigration officials.”
A Likely Contentious Political Issue
In the longer term, the lifting of Title 42 is likely to be a contentious political issue in the US. For instance, House Republicans are already considering a package of immigration bills, although they have little chance of passing in a Democratic-controlled Senate. President Joe Biden has admitted that the US-Mexico border will be chaotic for a while.
The number of migrants at the US border soared steeply since Biden took office in January 2021, triggered in part by economic woes, insecurity and political repression in countries such as Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Since the beginning of his administration, 4.6 million migrants have been arrested crossing illegally.
The new measures taken by immigration officials and efforts to allay the fears of local residents have done little to reassure those who help migrants in El Paso.
Susan Goodell, the Chief Executive of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank, which has been feeding numerous migrants each day on the city’s streets, admitted, “It’s going to be a very large challenge for us.”
Even as migrants were racing to reach U.S. soil before the rules expire, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said smugglers were sending a different message. He noted surge in smugglers at his country’s southern border offering to take migrants to the United States and telling them the border was open starting on Thursday, May 11, 2023.
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