US abolishes Title 42 amid unprecedented migrant surge

San Diego/Washington — The US will lift Covid-19 border restrictions, known as Title 42, on Thursday night, a major shift that has drawn tens of thousands of migrants to the US-Mexico border, straining local communities and intensifying political divisions.

The number of people caught crossing illegally has climbed in recent weeks, with daily apprehensions surpassing 10,000 on Monday and Tuesday. US border cities have struggled to shelter the new arrivals and provide transportation to other destinations.

On Wednesday morning, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had more than 28,000 migrants in custody, far beyond its stated capacity and in what appeared to be a record, a US official said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal operations.

CBP did not respond to a request for comment.

Against the backdrop of the chaotic scenes, President Joe Biden’s administration is surging personnel and funds to the border, while implementing a new regulation that will deny asylum to most migrants who cross illegally. The new measure will take effect when Title 42 ends, along with the broad Covid-19 public health emergency.

Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the new rule would mean tougher consequences for migrants crossing illegally, who could be deported and barred from the US for five years if they do not qualify for asylum.

Republicans fault Biden, a Democrat running for re-election in 2024, for scrapping the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, a Republican seeking to win back the White House.

In recent days, Biden administration officials have escalated their attacks on Republicans, saying they failed to fix immigration laws or provide adequate border funds.

“I asked the Congress for a lot more money for the Border Patrol,” Biden said on Wednesday. “They didn’t do it.”

The administration sought more than $4bn in December to cope with a broken immigration system, Mayorkas said on Wednesday.

“We received approximately half of what we requested, half of what we needed,” he said at a news conference.

The US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organisation, urged Congress to provide “significantly more resources” for the border and expand legal immigration.

“Congress cannot sit idly by and let this disorder continue unabated,” Executive Vice-President Neil Bradley said in a statement.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives aims to pass a bill on Thursday that would toughen border security and restrict access to asylum, but it would face an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow majority.

Since Biden took office in January 2021, the country has seen a record 4.6-million arrests of migrants crossing illegally, though the tally includes many repeat crossers. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week showed that only 26% approved of Biden’s handling of immigration.

In Texas, Republican governor Greg Abbott, a fierce critic of Biden's border policies, expanded a National Guard deployment this week “to help intercept and repel large groups of migrants trying to enter Texas illegally”.

Asked on Wednesday whether Texas National Guard troops were overstepping legal boundaries by taking on border enforcement duties, Mayorkas said he deferred to the US department of justice.

Small children in tow

With the Biden administration saying it will toughen enforcement under the new asylum standard, some migrants have scrambled to cross while Title 42 remains in effect.

Hundreds of migrants in San Diego, California, including many small children, have been stuck in a no-man’s land between two tall border walls, often for days, as they wait to be processed by overwhelmed US border agents.

On Wednesday, volunteers on the US side passed sandwiches through the gaps in the wall and said conditions there were squalid as confusion reigned over the change in policy.

Joshua, 23, a migrant from Venezuela who requested that Reuters use only his first name, hoped to enter the US before the policy shift. He travelled to the border in Tijuana, Mexico, without his wife and daughter, not wanting to bring them through a dangerous jungle separating Colombia and Panama, he said.

“With God’s protection, nothing is impossible,” he added.

Another Venezuelan migrant, Luis Rivero, speaking through the border fence separating Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, said this week that he wanted to cross now because the new policy “will be stricter”.

Reuters