Mexico: On Friday, the US lifted COVID-19 border restrictions that had been keeping many migrants from crossing into Mexico. The so-called Title 42 order was swiftly replaced by a comprehensive new asylum regulation designed to discourage unauthorised crossings.
However, a number of hurried court cases have made it unclear how the new border policies will operate going forward.
Immigration advocates, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a legal challenge against the new asylum bars just before Title 42 was set to expire at midnight on May 11 on the grounds that they contravene US laws and international agreements.
Advocates claim the new rule, implemented by Democratic President Joe Biden to stop illegal crossings, is similar to restrictions imposed by his Republican predecessor, former President Donald Trump. The same California-based judge was requested to block these by the rights groups after they successfully challenged the Trump regulations in court.
The Biden regulation is defended by Marsha Espinosa, a representative for the US Department of Homeland Security, who claims that it "seeks to incentivize migrants to use lawful pathways" rather than illegally cross the border. Before Title 42 expired and the new rule went into effect on Thursday, chaotic scenes of migrants frantically trying to enter the country played out.
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The law assumes that most migrants are not eligible for asylum if they entered other countries without first seeking protection elsewhere or if they did not follow the established legal entry routes into the US, as expanded by Biden.
In recent days, thousands of migrants have crossed rivers, scaled fences, and clambered up embankments in an effort to reach US territory in time for processing before midnight.
Some immigrants surrendered to border guards. Others attempted to pass covertly. In chin-high water, groups crossed the Rio Grande River in Matamoros, Mexico, on Thursday afternoon. To get into Brownsville, Texas, some people carried tiny babies and bags of belongings above their heads.
After crossing the border from Juarez, Mexico, hundreds of migrants camped out on the streets of El Paso, Texas, as they tried to decide where to go next.
In San Diego, California, across from Tijuana, Mexico, more migrants — including families with young children wrapped in Mylar blankets — awaited processing between two enormous border walls.
As COVID-19 swept the globe in March 2020, Trump began enforcing Title 42. At the time, health officials stated that the order was intended to stop the virus from spreading in crowded detention facilities. It enabled US authorities to swiftly send migrants to Mexico or other nations without giving them the chance to apply for asylum in the US.
However, Democrats, public health specialists, and proponents of immigration saw it as a continuation of Trump's effort to stop migrants at the border.
Despite running on a platform of undoing Trump's policies, Biden upheld and ultimately expanded Title 42.
Despite the fact that the total includes many repeat border crossers, Title 42 has resulted in the expulsion of migrants more than 2.7 million times.
Mexicans, many Central Americans, and more recently, immigrants from Venezuela, Cuba, and Haiti have been the only nationalities that Mexico has generally accepted. In order to pursue their immigration claims in court, which can take months or years, roughly 2.8 million migrants who were ineligible for expulsion were permitted entry into the country during the same time period through a process known as Title 8.
Biden's administration was dealing with record numbers of migrants at the US-Mexico border, straining US authorities and border cities, even before Title 42 expired, along with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
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Republicans accuse Biden of relaxing some of Trump's stricter regulations. Biden has accused Congress of failing to pass thorough immigration reform.
However, in light of the new asylum rule, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden administration figures have been attempting to spread the word that those who cross the border illegally will face consequences by deploying troops and thousands of additional personnel.
"Do not fall for smugglers' lies. The border is closed, according to a statement from Mayorkas.
Some migrants who spoke with Reuters on Thursday said they hurried to cross before the deadline after learning it would be more difficult to enter the country after May 11. This week, daily arrests exceeded 10,000, and the detention facility's capacity was reached.
Due to the large number of people arriving, agents started releasing some migrants on Wednesday without giving them a notice to appear in immigration court so they could file an asylum claim, instead instructing them to go to an immigration office later.
However, a federal judge in Florida barred such releases late on Thursday night, claiming they did not adhere to the correct regulatory procedures. The decision, according to US Customs and Border Protection, is "harmful" and will "result in unsafe overcrowding" at border facilities.
