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Migrants flock across US before further asylum restrictions

MATAMOROS, Mexico –

Migrants flocked across the border hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions expired on Thursday, fearing that the new policies would make entry to the United States more difficult. so many.

In a move to clear overcrowded detention facilities, Border Patrol agents were asked on Wednesday to begin releasing some migrants with instructions to report to a US immigration office within 60 days. days, according to a US official.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and provided the information to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The Biden administration has announced measures to replace Title 42, which has suspended the right to seek asylum since March 2020 on the pretext of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced a rule that makes it difficult for anyone traveling through another country, like Mexico, to qualify for asylum. It also introduced a curfew with GPS tracking for families released in the US prior to initial refugee screening.

In Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, migrants arrived steadily on Wednesday, stripping off their clothes before making their way down a steep bank, clutching plastic bags filled with clothing. They waded slowly into the river, one man slinging a baby in an open suitcase over his head.

On the American side, they wore dry clothes and ducked through concertina strings. Many have surrendered to authorities, hoping to be released to stay legally while pursuing their cases in the immigration courts backlog, which has taken years.

William Contreras of Venezuela said Title 42 benefits people in his devastated South American country, having heard that many before him have been released in the United States.

“What we understand is that they won’t let anyone else in,” said Contreras’ friend Pablo, who declined to give his last name because of the intention to cross the border illegally. “That’s why we urgently crossed the border today.”

Border Patrol intercepted about 10,000 migrants on Tuesday, one of its busiest days ever, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. . This is nearly double the daily average of about 5,200 in March, the latest public data, and close to the 11,000 that US officials have predicted is the upper limit of the increase they are predicting. after Title 42.

The official said more than 27,000 people are being held by US Customs and Border Protection, which is beyond capacity. In March, 8,600 people were detained.

Border Patrol agents were ordered Wednesday to begin releasing migrants in any border area that reaches a 125% capacity with instructions to report to the immigration office within 60 days. They are also required to initiate release if the average detention time exceeds 60 hours or if 7,000 migrants are apprehended across the entire border in any given day.

In Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, some migrant shelters have empty beds as migrants abandon them for the United States. a few weeks ago.

While Title 42 discourages many asylum-seekers, it carries no legal consequences, encouraging repeat efforts. After Thursday, the migrants face a five-year ban from entering the US and possible criminal prosecution.

At the same time, the administration has launched new legal pathways that expand into the United States Up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela can enter if they register online with a financial sponsor and entry through an airport. Processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere. Up to 1,000 people can enter daily through road crossings with Mexico if they book an appointment on an online app.

In San Diego, more than 100 migrants, many of them Colombian families, sleep under tarps between two border walls, guarded by Border Patrol agents and with nowhere to take them. go handle.

Albino Leon, 51, buys chicken from street vendors in Tijuana through wooden slats on the wall bordering San Diego because the cookies the dealers give him, his wife and daughter make them hungry. The news that Title 42 was coming to an end prompted the family to take the journey now.

“With the changes they’re making to the law, it’s now or never,” said Leon, who flew to Mexico from Colombia and crossed the first border wall to reach the US.

While US officials anticipate more crossings after Title 42 ends at 11:59. pm EDT Thursday – President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the border will be “chaotic for a while” – some are uncertain. Soraya Vasquez, deputy director of Al Otro Lado, an active advocacy group in Tijuana, said crossings could be reduced immediately but migration would continue.

Miguel Meza, head of migration programs for Catholic Relief Services, has 26 migrant shelters in Mexico, with an estimated 55,000 migrants in border cities facing the United States. . Many people arrive daily from the south, as well as migrants deported by the US back to Mexico.

Carmen Josefina Characo, a Venezuelan woman who came to Matamoros with her eldest daughter, said she is determined to keep trying a US government mobile app to win a place in the US at a land border crossing. Demand has outstripped supply, frustrating many newcomers.

“The newcomers started hearing stories from other people who had been here longer and they started to worry. ‘Oh, you’ve been here for four months. Well, I’m new here and I’m going over here,’ ‘” said Characco.

Migrants have strained several US cities over the past year.

Denver began seeing more than 100 migrants a day arrive on buses last week, activating an emergency operations center. The city is scrambling for shelter space.

Alan Salazar, Mayor Michael Hancock’s chief of staff, said: “The numbers are overwhelming.

Salazar estimates about 9,000 migrants have passed through Denver since late fall, when the city suddenly became a popular stopover for Venezuelans and others.

Elias Guerra, 20, arrived in Denver last week after hearing it was a friendly place where he could get a free bus ticket to his final destination. After four nights in the shelter, Denver offers a $58 bus ticket to New York City. He left on Wednesday night.

“It’s comfortable, it’s safe, there’s food, there’s shelter, there’s toilets,” Guerra said as he and dozens of other migrants waited in a garage where the city processes new arrivals.

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Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Rebecca Santana in Washington; Christopher Sherman in Mexico City; Gerardo Carrillo of Matamoros, Mexico; Maria Verza in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Anita Snow in Phoenix; Nick Riccardi of Denver; Morgan Lee of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Elliot Spagat of Tijuana, Mexico, contributed.



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