Migrants racing against tough new asylum rules at U.S.-Mexico border

In the hours before the U.S. government lifts a COVID-19 immigration restriction called Title 42 on Thursday, migrants gathered on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border with some rushing to cross ahead of tough new asylum rules that will replace the order.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has in recent days been holding up to 28,000 migrants at its facilities, far beyond its stated capacity and in what appeared to be a record, two federal officials requesting anonymity and the Border Patrol's union said.

The busiest border detention facilities are in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and two areas in Arizona, according to union head Brandon Judd.

This week, the number of people caught crossing illegally surpassed 10,000 per day. Judd said that,because of the volume of people arriving, agents are releasing some migrants without a notice to appear in immigration court, where they can make an asylum claim, and are telling them to report to an immigration office later.

On average, people are spending nearly three days in custody, Judd said. CBP did not respond to a request for comment.

In Yuma, Ariz., hundreds of migrants lined up in the chilly hours before dawn at a gap in the towering border fence, waiting to turn themselves in to U.S. agents.

WATCH | Title 42, explained:

Crisis at the U.S. border: Title 42, explained | About That

1 year ago

Duration 9:22

Some, like 40-year-old Jovanna Gomez from Colombia, heard about the U.S. policy change and decided to try her luck crossing now.

"In my country, you hear that immigration will only be allowed until May 11, so we came racing against the clock," she said. "It wasn't easy."

Whatis Title 42?

Under Title 42, which has been in place since March 2020 and is set to expire at midnight, hundreds of thousands of migrants have been quickly expelled to Mexico.

But because Mexico only accepted the return of certain nationalities mostly their own citizens and Central Americans, and more recently Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans migrants from other countries have largely been allowed in to pursue their immigration claims.

That is set to change as U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is surging personnel and funds to the border while implementing the new regulation, which will deny asylum to almost all migrants who cross illegally. The measure will bar anyone who has passed through another country without seeking refuge elsewhere or who failed to use legal pathways to enter the United States.

The new regulation will take effect when Title 42 lifts, along with the declared end of the broad COVID-19 public health emergency on Thursday.

Top U.S. officials repeated a warning to illegalcrossers. "Our borders are not open," Homeland SecuritySecretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters at a White House briefing.

CBPacting commissioner Troy Miller reiterated in a statement that Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitiansand Nicaraguans that cross the southwest border illegally after the end of Title 42 will continue to be sent back to Mexico, which can accept a total of up to 30,000 migrants from those countries monthly.

The U.S. has opened up legal processes for migrants of those nationalities to apply for entry from abroad, in an effort to discourage people from coming to the border.

"As we have said many times, the border is not open to irregular migration. Individuals should not put their lives in the hand of smugglers, only to face steep consequences," Miller said.

U.S. border cities have struggled to shelter the new arrivals and provide transportation to other destinations. Far from the border, other cities say they are also struggling to cope, such as New York where Mayor Eric Adams temporarily loosened right-to-shelter rules because of strained resources.

Scenesfrom the border

Mara Jos Durn, a 24-year-old student from Venezuela, was on the verge of tears as she sat on a riverbank in Matamoros, Mexico.

Mexican immigration officials were trying to move migrants back to an improvised camp and away from a spot where they could wade across the Rio Grande.

Durn said she dropped out of college when her parents could no longer afford it and set out for the U.S. with a group of friends and relatives. They crossed the treacherous Darien Gap dividing Colombia and Panama and then a half-dozen more countries before arriving at the U.S. border.

WATCH | U.S. prepares for influx of migrants:

U.S. braces for migrant surge as immigration policy ends

1 year ago

Duration 2:46

Migrants shelters at the southern U.S. border are preparing for an influx of people as the country's Title 42 immigration policy is set to expire. Authorities are urging people to enter the U.S. lawfully, but the already strained system is having trouble keeping up with cases.

"I don't know what to think now, having made such a difficult journey to now find ourselves with this," she said, motioning toward the opposite shore where at least a dozen Texas state troopers with rifles stood behind barbed wire.

Later, Durn could be seen walking along the levee with other migrants who had crossed the Rio Grande and passed the wire.

Smugglers helped Guatemalan Sheidi Mazariegos and her four-year-old son get to Matamoros, Mexico, where the two then crossed the Rio Grande on a raft.

But U.S. Border Patrol agents took the pair into custody a week ago near Brownville, Texas. On Thursday, the 26-year-old and her son arrived back in Guatemala on one of two flights carrying a total of 387 migrants.

"I heard on the news that there was an opportunity to enter," said Mazariegos. "I heard it on the radio, but it was all a lie."

Political finger-pointing

Florida's attorney general has gone to federal court to tryto block mass releases of migrants into the United States afterTitle 42 ends.

U.S. Sen.Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent who left the Democratic Party five months ago, criticized the administration on Thursday, telling reporters the president had failed to adequately prepare for the end of Title 42. She said small towns in her state have been struggling to transport arriving migrants with little access to resources like buses or shelters.

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.

And Biden administration officials in recent days 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."

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

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

Some organizations are welcoming the migrants. In Yuma, Fernando Quiroz, a 50-year-old member of a volunteer group known as the AZ-CA Humanitarian Coalition, was pulling a wagon filled with water bottles to hand out to migrants awaiting processing in the middle of the night.

"The reason we are here is our faith, our compassion, our empathy for a lot of these individuals," Quiroz said. "We just want to be that friendly smile.

"Who knows what happens when they get on that bus?" he said. "This is just the first step of a very long journey."