Live updates from the US-Mexico border as Title 42 restrictions end
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What’s next along the border? More than 2.7 million people have been turned away in the three years the Title 42 restrictions have been in effect.
At 8:59 p.m. Thursday, the pandemic-era restrictions will lift.
Reporters from The Arizona Republic and the USA TODAY Network are covering the news across the U.S. Southwest and Mexico. Return here for frequent updates.
Migrants line up at the border to turn themselves in
YUMA – Early Thursday, more than 100 people lined up to turn themselves in to Border Patrol at a gap in the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
People stood solemnly in line with looks of exhaustion etched on their faces.
People of all ages were present: parents with infants and toddlers, several elderly people, a few older teenagers, and many middle age and young adults. Some were dressed in winter jackets and hats, others wore jeans and sweatshirts, while some underdressed for the brisk morning wearing just shorts and slip-on sandals.
“Embarazada,” or pregnant, one woman called out to the Spanish-speaking agent. He brought her to the front of the line.
Border Patrol agents took people in groups to a lit area along the wall. They had them take their shoelaces off, put their documents in small plastic bags and took photos of them. Then they loaded them up in white buses to take them to the processing facility, frisking them before letting them on the bus.
By 3 a.m., five buses had come and taken 40 people each. There were at least 20 countries represented that night with a variety of languages spoken, from Spanish to Chinese, French and Nepalese, among others. After the buses left, more people trickled across the vehicle barrier, waiting for their turn in line.
— Sarah Lapidus
As Title 42 ends, migrants dream of entering US
NOGALES, Sonora — Many people waiting in border communities in Mexico fled their home countries because of poverty, gang and political violence and climate change.
The Kino Border Initiative provides services to hundreds of people a day and can house up to 85 people who are allowed to stay up to 10 days in its shelter. The nonprofit serves food and connects people with services, from social work to medical assistance, legal assistance and therapy. Many come to use the shelter’s Wi-Fi to apply on the CBP One application for appointments to enter the U.S. and plead their asylum cases.
Brayan Martinez, 24, from Colombia escaped after being forcibly recruited by armed groups in Bogotá.
“I was scared, so I came here. They threatened me. They killed two of my uncles,” he said in an interview last week. They violated him, he said, and he was terrified they would kill him. One day he found an opportunity and escaped.
Martinez said he had been trying to get an appointment on the CBP One application, but it kept glitching and just showed him error message after error message.
He said he hopes someone can help him.
“I don’t want to return. I’m scared of going back,” Martinez said.
— Sarah Lapidus
Border Patrol as prepared as it can be for border restriction’s end, Tucson chief says
TUCSON — The chief patrol agent of Tucson’s Border Patrol Sector said Monday that the agency is “incredibly well prepared” for the end of a pandemic-era border restriction days before it’s expected to expire.
John Modlin, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, detailed how the agency is preparing Monday at an event at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. While Modlin underscored the Border Patrol’s readiness for the end of Title 42, he described its sunset as “concerning” and said capacity is strained at Arizona Border Patrol holding facilities.
“It’s hard to understand what’s coming at us,” Modlin said. “I think we’re as prepared as we can be for it.”
U.S. officials are estimating migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border to increase to 10,000 per day when the restriction lifts.
There have been 146,301 migrant encounters by Border Patrol in the Tucson sector so far in fiscal year 2023, which began in October, according to CBP data. Encounters increased by about 19% from the same time last year, per CBP data.
— José Ignacio Castañeda Perez
Government app for asylum seekers doesn’t work very well
Migrants who want to seek asylum in the United States must use the government’s new CBP One app to schedule appointments with border officials after Title 42 lifts at 8:59 p.m. Thursday.
However, the app has received negative reviews since its rollout by the Biden administration.
Read more about the legal, technical and practical concerns that critics have raised about the app in this report.
— José Ignacio Castañeda Perez
Galvin asks Biden for emergency resources
Maricopa County Supervisor Thomas Galvin on Wednesday wrote to President Biden asking for additional emergency resources to help the region address the expected increase in people crossing the border.
“Unfortunately, for Arizona generally, and Maricopa County specifically, the federal government is needlessly creating a humanitarian issue with very real consequences for the economy and security on our communities which are still reeling from the social impact of the pandemic,” Galvin wrote.
“Not having properly communicated plans from the federal government, ahead of an anticipated surge in migration, will make an already dire situation demonstrably worse. This is problematic, at the very least on a good-governance level, and, at worst, it is a humanitarian crisis in the making.”
He said county communities deserve to be safe and secure “and migrants should be treated fairly and humanely,” and that county residents deserve “nothing less” than additional emergency resources to ensure that happens.
— Ryan Randazzo
Sheriffs meet with Gov. Hobbs over safety concerns
Ten county sheriffs met with Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday to discuss their concerns that the end of Title 42 could create safety concerns across the state if large numbers of people attempt to cross the border.
One concern of theirs is that human and drug-smuggling cartels could take advantage of a chaotic situation, according to the Arizona Sheriff’s Association.
“For decades, the federal government has failed Arizona with its unsuccessful attempts at border security,” Arizona Sheriffs Association president and Yavapai Sheriff David Rhodes said. “Sheriffs and other law enforcement from across the state seize as much fentanyl here than the rest of the country combined. We need the resources to combat drug and human smuggling. Our message to Gov. Hobbs was plain and simple: help is needed.”
— The Arizona Republic staff
The Arizona Republic answers your questions about the end of Title 42
Wondering about the turmoil surrounding the end of Title 42, which expires at 8:59 p.m. Thursday?
U.S. border officials have used the public health policy, which was enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, to quickly expel migrants nearly 3 million times.
Since its implementation, asylum seekers hoping to gain entry into the United States have been stymied. The Biden administration is now bracing for a surge based on that pent-up demand at the border.
José Ignacio Castañeda Perez, The Republic’s border reporter, gives you a crash course on Title 42 with this explainer: “What is Title 42 and is it ending? The US border immigration policy, explained.”
— Dan Nowicki
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