Asylum-seekers crowd US-Mexico border as COVID restrictions end
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Loading... - Boubacar Balde
- 11 May 2023
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As the Biden administration prepares to withhold asylum from migrants who arrive at the border without first applying online or seeking refuge in a country they passed through, thousands of asylum-seekers have amassed at the U.S.-Mexico border. This marks a major shift in immigration policy as the U.S. readies itself for the termination of a critical pandemic restriction.
Asylum-seekers have been flocking to the border in anticipation of the end of a constraint known as Title 42. This rule has enabled the government to expel migrants to Mexico quickly. As the program tied to the COVID-19 pandemic comes to a close this week, U.S. officials warn of trying days ahead. The new measure unveiled on Wednesday is part of an effort to curb unlawful border crossings while creating new legitimate pathways. Families crossing the border will be subjected to curfews and monitoring, with the head of the household wearing an ankle bracelet while their cases are adjudicated within 30 days.
However, there is also a plan to establish 100 regional migration hubs throughout the Western Hemisphere and offer humanitarian parole to 30,000 individuals per month to enter the United States from four countries.
U.S. officials have outlined the steps they've taken, including increasing deportation flights, as they brace themselves for what many expect to be a significant rise in migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas cautioned, "Our plan will deliver results, but it will take time for those results to be fully realized."
Concerned that it may soon become more difficult to remain in the United States, many migrants are attempting to cross before Title 42 expires and the new rule takes effect at the end of the day on Thursday. Under Title 42, border officials have swiftly returned people, having done so 2.8 million times since March 2020. However, once the restrictions expire on Thursday, individuals caught crossing the border illegally will not be permitted to return for five years and may face criminal prosecution if they do.
On Wednesday, migrants arrived at the Rio Grande in Matamoros in a steady stream. Many of them stripped down before descending the steep riverbank clutching plastic bags filled with clothing. They waded into the river slowly as more migrants arrived, some crossing themselves before following the line across the rushing border. A family swaddled a tiny baby in an open suitcase, while a man held it atop his head, with another walking alongside him as a precaution. Other children rode on shoulders. On the U.S. side, they scrambled up the bank, pausing to change into dry clothes before carefully making their way through rows of concertina wire.
