Title 42: Asylum officers, Secret Service agents and troops have surged toward border with policy expiration hours away

(CNN) — With just hours left before Title 42 expires on Thursday night, the U.S. could see an even bigger influx of immigrants than at home due to the end of Trump-era border restrictions. He anticipates that there will be, and rounds up the exiled officers, military personnel, and federal personnel who are rushing toward the southern border. Already seen in the last few weeks.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas said on Wednesday that about 1,000 refugee officers have been deployed to border patrols and immigration detention facilities to help review asylum claims. Federal agents, including U.S. Secret Service agents and federal marshals, will also be deployed to assist border officials, two Homeland Security officials told CNN.

This is in addition to 550 US soldiers, most of them Army, who began their mission on Wednesday to assist Customs and Border Protection agents at the US-Mexico border. The officials said they would help monitor the border and provide data entry and warehouse support, but would not carry out law enforcement duties.

“We have a clear eye on the challenges we will face in the days and weeks ahead. It can be very difficult,” Mayorcas told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. rice field.

Majorcas said the United States expects a large influx of migrants at its southern border over the next few weeks.

Title 42, a 2020 policy aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, will allow U.S. officials to expedite the repatriation of migrants encountered at the border, with some exceptions, or send them back to Mexico. was recognized. The deadline, which is due to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, has prompted officials to warn that it could lead to a surge in migrants and exacerbate an already devastating humanitarian crisis on the southern border.

Since the policy’s inception, officials have deported immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border more than 2.8 million times under Title 42, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Border officials will instead rely on decades-old procedures with a few new wrinkles. While the Protocol may have heavier legal consequences for trespassers, it often takes longer than Title 42 expulsions. In the days leading up to Thursday, border towns have seen a surge in makeshift camps, and border crossings are already inundated with climbers.

U.S. border officials encountered about 10,400 migrants along the U.S. southern border on Tuesday, and the number of border arrests continues to rise, according to Homeland Security officials.

Many make the long and dangerous journey to the United States in search of a better and safer life. Experts say migrants may be fleeing violence, seeking economic opportunities or reuniting with families.

The Texas border city of Laredo is gearing up for the end of Title 42 “if a hurricane comes,” Mayor Victor Trevino said on Wednesday, adding that Laredo has drawn immigrants from other overwhelmed Texas communities. He added that he had been told that he would accept the transfer.

“What we fear is that we will be overwhelmed by these migrations and end up in the same situation as them,” Trevino said.

The Texas border city of El Paso, which just witnessed hundreds of migrants sleeping on the sidewalks during last week’s immigration surge, is bracing for more influxes, but the big concern is a long-term solution revealed. That’s what’s missing, said Mayor Oskar Lieser. .

“There is no light at the end of the tunnel,” Mr. Lieser said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendes told CNN that the city of Texas is “as prepared as we can be.” We are at the forefront of the problem,” he added. for decades. ”

New York, hundreds of miles from the border, is already facing an increase in immigration.

On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order suspending parts of the city’s refugee law, citing an expected influx of immigrants. When the law takes effect, the city will be required to provide shelter to anyone who wants it, including recently arrived immigrants.

“With more than 130 emergency outposts and eight humanitarian relief centers already open, we have reached capacity and last week we temporarily accommodated recently arrived people in gyms,” said Fabian Levy, spokesman for the city of Adams. The city recently saw more than 500 migrants arriving each day.

Meanwhile, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz downplayed Thursday night’s Title 42 revocation, telling reporters Wednesday that the surge expected to occur after the revocation had already happened “in the last five or six days.”

“It doesn’t consume a lot of our processing resources,” Ortiz said. “I think our team is well prepared to handle those numbers.”

Still, political tensions over the country’s immigration system are mounting.

“Despite nearly two years of preparation, we expect to see numerous encounters on the southern border in the days and weeks following May 11,” Mayorcas said. A number of encounters have been confirmed.” “This is placing an incredible strain on our personnel, facilities and communities with which we work closely.”

Along the border fence from San Diego, California to El Paso and Brownsville, crowds can be seen sheltering in tents and queuing for formalities, many walking long distances for a chance to reach the other country. They are traveling or riding freight trains. Apply for asylum on the side of the border.

Some 155,000 migrants are estimated to be in shelters or on the streets in northern Mexico states that border the United States, according to people familiar with federal estimates.

“Like so many others, we’re looking for a better way of life. We’re looking for safety to go out on the town,” said immigrant Marcela Aguilar, of San Diego’s CNN affiliate KGTV. told to

“Here we can have a better future,” another immigrant, Sergio Arias, told KGTV. “We will no longer have to live in fear”

A Venezuelan immigrant waiting in Brownsville told CNN that he had asked to use only his first name, William, but had come to the U.S. border after hearing the pandemic-era immigration restrictions had expired.

However, it is said that his wife and two young children went missing during immigration procedures.

“I thought we would see each other again, but they just processed me and I had to go,” Williams told CNN Wednesday in Spanish.

William said local authorities and philanthropists did not help him find his wife. “It’s been seven days,” he said. “I ask them where she is and they say they don’t know.”

Majorcas said the expected surge may be spurred in part by misinformation from smugglers seeking to exploit migrants for economic gain.

“Smugglers have been working hard for a long time to spread misinformation that the borders will be open after May 11, but that’s not the case,” Mayorcas said.

Advocates also say many of those displaced under Title 42 are desperate in their dire circumstances.

Human Rights First has identified more than 13,000 cases of kidnapping, torture, rape and other acts of violence against immigrants and asylum seekers who have been blocked or deported from entering Mexico under Title 42 since Biden took office. announced that it did.

Mayorcas stressed Wednesday that the end of Title 42 “does not mean the borders are open.”

With that policy lifted, U.S. officials will place more emphasis on the decades-old Title 8. Under Title 8, immigrants who cross the border illegally could face tougher penalties, including being barred from entering the United States for at least five years. . Asylum seekers who cross the border without first applying for asylum may be excluded under Title VIII powers.

Chapter 8 would have more legal ramifications, especially for second-time arrests, but its power-based processing time would be longer than Chapter 42’s banishment, and already strained resources. may place a burden on

“The transition to Title 8 processing for all individuals encountered at the border will take effect immediately once the Title 42 order is lifted,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release Wednesday.

Homeland Security officials said the State Department would eventually open about 100 regional processing centers in the Western Hemisphere and would launch an online platform for immigrants to book “in the next few days.”

The Biden administration is also rolling out a new program to track the expedited deportation process for families of immigrants released in the United States, according to sources familiar with the plan, including It also includes measures to mandate house arrest. .

In addition, new regulations due to go into effect this week will almost bar immigrants transiting through other countries on their way to the US-Mexico border from seeking asylum in the US, with some exceptions. .