The Southern border was relatively quiet following the end of Title 42 at midnight despite fears that the end of the pandemic-era public-health policy would lead to a surge of illegal crossings.
Some migrants planning on crossing the border into El Paso, Texas, cheered when the policy officially expired, according to NBC News. Border agents, some wearing riot gear, encountered a small group of migrants at the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge leading into Texas, the New York Times reported.
“We are seeing people arriving at the border, at our southern border. We are taking them into custody. We are processing them. And if they make a claim for relief and don’t succeed, they will be removed,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told MSNBC on Friday morning. “Title 42, the public health authority, ended about seven and a half hours ago. Our traditional immigration enforcement authorities that deliver tougher consequences started immediately thereafter. And there’s been one constant through it all, and that is a broken immigration system that Congress needs to fix.”
“We’ve [been] planning and executing on our plan for more than 18 months,” he added. “We’ve been ready for this moment. It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be a tough transition, as I’ve made clear, but we have a plan and we’re executing on it.
While the DHS initially predicted roughly 10,000 daily migrant crossings following the end of Title 42, those numbers were surpassed earlier this week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, as apprehensions reached 11,000 per day. U.S. Customs and Border Protection had detained a record 28,000 migrants across its facilities, Reuters reports.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration introduced sweeping changes to the asylum system, denying entry to all migrants who do not first seek asylum in a transit country or apply for protection in the U.S. using an online form before arriving at the border. Nationals from Venezuelan, Haitian, Cuban, and Nicaraguan caught illegally crossing the Southern border are also expected to be deported back to Mexico.
The overhaul, though, did not reassure many Texas border towns – including Brownsville, Laredo, and El Paso – all of which declared a state of emergency as 35,000 migrants congregated in Juarez and 15,000 gathered in Tijuana.
“Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum,” Mayorkas said in an official statement posted at midnight, as Title 42 expired.
“We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. We have 24,000 Border Patrol Agents and Officers at the Southwest Border and have surged thousands of troops and contractors, and over a thousand asylum officers to help enforce our laws. Do not believe the lies of smugglers.”
“The border is not open. People who do not use available lawful pathways to enter the U.S. now face tougher consequences, including a minimum five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution. Together with our partners throughout the federal government and Western Hemisphere, we are prepared for this transition,” the secretary concluded.
Just hours before Title 42 officially ended, the Republican-controlled House passed the Secure the Border Act of 2023 with no Democratic support. The legislation aims to restart construction on the border wall and would require CBP to hire and train 22,000 Border Patrol agents.
However, the Biden administration condemned the bill arguing it “does nothing to address the root causes of migration, reduces humanitarian protections, and restricts lawful pathways, which are critical alternatives to unlawful entry,” the White House said in a statement following the news.
Nearly 3 million migrants had been denied entry to the United States under Title 42 since it was first activated under Former President Donald Trump back in March 2020.