U.S. prepares for influx of migrants at Mexico border as Title 42 COVID restrictions lift

Migrants are massing at the Mexican border of the United States as the U.S. prepares to lift COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday night that have blocked hundreds of thousands of migrants caught at the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum since 2020, a move that has spurred a spike in illegal crossings and heightened political tensions.

The COVID-19 restrictions, known as Title 42, were first implemented under Republican then-president Donald Trump in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. At the time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the order was needed to stem the spread of the coronavirus in crowded detention settings.

Title 42 allowed border agents to rapidly expel many migrants to Mexico, but some public health experts, Democrats and advocates criticized its health justification, saying it was part of Trump's goal of curbing legal and illegal immigration.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021 vowing to reverse Trump's restrictive approach, but kept Title 42 in place and expanded it as his administration grappled with record migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border.

WATCH | Migrants line up at U.S.-Mexico border:

Since its inception, migrants have been expelled more than 2.7 million times under Title 42, although the total includes many repeat crossers and Mexico has generally only accepted certain nationalities.

The Biden administration intends to lift Title 42 on Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET when the U.S. COVID-19 public health emergency ends.

Migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border will again be able to request asylum. However, a new Biden regulation finalized this week could deny asylum for most who cross illegally.

Even with the new tougher asylum standard, U.S. border officials are preparing for a possible increase in illegal crossings, the result of pent-up demand and the perception among migrants that they will be allowed in.

The number of migrants apprehended at the border with Mexico climbed to more than 10,000 per day this week, surpassing a scenario outlined by a top U.S. border official last month. Some migrants said they aimed to enter the U.S. before the new asylum restrictions came into force.

The new Biden regulation restricting asylum for migrants who cross illegally will take effect immediately after Title 42 ends.

Under the regulation, most migrants will be presumed ineligible for asylum if they passed through other nations without seeking protection elsewhere first or if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry.

U.S. authorities aim to process migrants in days and swiftly deport them if they fail an initial asylum screening.

Nearly 500 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) personnel will temporarily be assigned to help with the interviews and the Pentagon will send 1,500 troops to support the Border Patrol on a temporary basis.