The US policy known as Title 42 is set to expire in hours, ending one of the country’s most controversial border restrictions more than two years after it was first imposed under the pretext of public health.
US officials expect an increase in the number of migrants and refugees attempting to enter the country through the border with Mexico when Title 42 formally expires Thursday.
However, under pressure from Republican lawmakers to shut down border crossings, the administration of US President Joe Biden deployed additional troops and imposed new curbs in preparation for the end of the COVID-era restriction.
This has raised concerns from rights groups who accuse Washington of cracking down on asylum, a right recognized by both US and international law.
Here, Al Jazeera examines how Title 42 has worked, what impact the policy has had on migration on the southern US border, and what to expect when it ends.
Where does Title 42 come from?
Title 42 is derived from a rather obscure US public health law that dates back to 1944.
It was first invoked in March 2020 by the administration of former President Donald Trump, who claimed it was necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, rights groups have said this was just a pretext to crack down on immigration.
How has the policy been used?
Title 42 has enabled US authorities to quickly turn away most migrants and refugees arriving at the country’s southern border, without giving them the chance to apply for protection.
Since it was first introduced, the US has recorded more than 2.8 million Title 42 evictions, according to government figures. This also applies to people who may have been rejected several times.
When exactly will it stop?
The policy expires on Thursday at 11:59 PM ET (03:59 GMT on Friday).
This coincides with the end of the COVID-19 public health crisis in the US on May 11.
Had Washington tried to end Title 42 before?
Yes. The Biden administration tried to lift the policy last year after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Title 42 was no longer necessary to respond to the pandemic.
However, Republican-led states have sued, arguing that it was necessary to prevent a massive influx of migrants and refugees at the border. A protracted legal battle ensued, but with the pandemic health emergency order ending this month, that is now moot.
What has the Biden administration done to prepare?
The White House announced last week that it would send an additional 1,500 US troops to the Mexican border pending the expiration of Title 42. This is in addition to the 2,500 soldiers already deployed there.
White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that the Biden administration was ready to handle an expected wave of migration.
“At this point, we believe we have a robust plan, a multi-agency plan, to do this in a humane way,” Jean-Pierre said, emphasizing Washington’s policy of “enforcement, deterrence and diplomacy.”
Have asylum seekers already arrived?
More than 10,000 migrants and refugees were caught illegally crossing the US-Mexico border on Monday and Tuesday, said Brandon Judd, president of a border guards union.
Border agents in El Paso, Texas, also earlier this week urged hundreds of migrants to gather on city streets to surrender to authorities as authorities reported an increase in irregular border crossings in the run-up to the end of Title 42.
At the same time, migrants and refugees are gathering at various points on the Mexican side of the US border.
In the Mexican border town of Matamoros, migrants bought life jackets and life jackets to prepare to cross the Rio Grande River to Brownsville, Texas, migrant rights activist Gladys Canas said. And in Tijuana, across from San Diego, California, migrants formed long lines in front of a towering border fence on Monday, aiming to turn themselves in to US border agents.
In El Paso, one of the areas where border crossings have increased even as U.S. authorities have deployed more personnel, men in plain clothes handed out Spanish-language flyers downtown Tuesday morning urging people to go to the nearest U.S. border patrol station for processing.
Camille Castillo, executive director of the El Paso Coalition for the Homeless, said most local shelters are already “maxed out.”
How are US border cities and states reacting?
El Paso, as well as two other Texas cities, Brownsville and Laredo, have declared a state of emergency as they struggle with hundreds of people — most from Latin America and some from China, Russia and Turkey — already there.
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the city was gearing up for much more on Friday, judging by a recent tour of the neighboring Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez. “On the street, we estimate somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 people,” Leeser said this week.
Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott — a staunch critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies — said Monday he is deploying a special border force to deal with “hot spots” along the border.
Abbott said members of the Texas Tactical Border Force, a new specially trained U.S. National Guard unit, were being loaded onto Black Hawk helicopters for deployment. “They will be deployed to hotspots along the border to intercept, repel and return migrants trying to enter Texas illegally,” Abbott said at a news conference.
What other US policy is there at the border?
The Biden administration has introduced a variety of policies in anticipation of the end of Title 42.
Some are designed to provide migrants and refugees with extended legal avenues to the US, but others will take a more punitive approach and weaken their ability to seek asylum.
In January, the Biden administration stated it would accept up to 30,000 people a month from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti, provided they apply in advance and meet certain criteria. At the same time, Mexico agreed to take back 30,000 asylum seekers each month from those four countries trying to enter the US at the border.
The government recently announced it would set up processing centers in Latin American countries, and on Wednesday unveiled a new rule that would make most migrants and refugees arriving at the border with Mexico ineligible for asylum in the US .
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the rule, which will disqualify people from applying for asylum in the US if they don’t first apply in countries they crossed earlier on their journey, takes effect Thursday at the same time Title 42 expires.
What have human rights lawyers said about the situation?
While rights groups had called for Title 42 to be repealed, they have condemned the Biden administration for increasingly relying on policies that will deny refuge to people fleeing desperate circumstances.
“People seeking safety should be met with compassion and care, not with a display of intimidation,” Jennifer Babaie, director of advocacy and legal services at the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, said last week in response to the deployment of US troops at the border.
“Once again we are witnessing the administration’s refusal to offer concrete solutions in favor of deterrence measures, completely disrupting any meaningful access to safety for the families crossing. We have seen this before and we know that this will only expose migrants to more risks,” Babaie said in a statement.
Many have also raised the alarm, particularly about the US’s new restrictions on asylum.
“The right to seek asylum has been an established right in the US for more than 65 years,” Christian Penichet-Paul, assistant vice president of policy and advocacy at the National Immigration Forum, told Al Jazeera. “And there are concerns that people traveling through Mexico could still be victims of violence and abuse.”
What did Mexico say?
Asked about the US policy change this week, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged migrants and refugees to find “legal avenues” to enter the United States. He also asked Washington to process visa applications quickly.
“We make the respectful suggestion … that they don’t take too long to issue permits,” said Lopez Obrador, who had a phone call with Biden on Tuesday in which the two presidents discussed the situation at the border.
The two leaders “discussed continued close coordination between border authorities and strong enforcement action” ahead of the end of Title 42, the White House said. “They also reaffirmed their shared commitment to addressing the root causes of migration from Central America and discussed expanding our two nations’ joint efforts” and “discussed the urgency of effectively reducing crowding in northern Mexico.”
Nicole Ramos, director of the border rights project at immigrant rights group Al Otro Lado, said the US has been trying to encourage countries like Mexico to crack down on migrants trying to travel to the US, a policy known as border externalization.
“In the context of restrictive border policies, I think it’s also important to note how much money the U.S. government gives to the Mexican government to control the north and south of Mexico. Essentially, all of Mexico is a border area right now,” Ramos said.
“That is one of the US policies that make it more dangerous for asylum seekers on their journey, and certainly more vulnerable to smugglers and traffickers.”