A contentious United States policy that has allowed authorities to turn away most asylum seekers at the border with Mexico has officially ended, as President Joe Biden’s administration readies for an expected influx of arrivals.
The public health order known as Title 42, which formally expired at 11:59pm on Thursday (03:59 GMT on Friday), had been used to turn asylum seekers away more than 2.8 million times since it was first invoked in March 2020.
At the time, then-President Donald Trump argued Title 42 was necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19, but rights groups immediately criticised the measure, saying the pandemic was merely a pretext to crack down on immigration.
The policy’s expiration coincided with the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, and the Biden administration has sent additional troops and resources to the US-Mexico border in advance of its end.
Washington also finalised a new rule this week that will make most refugees and asylum seekers arriving at the country’s southern border with Mexico ineligible to seek asylum in the US. The rule will take effect when Title 42 expires.
People seeking to immigrate have rushed across the border in the days and hours before the policy was set to end, fearing that the new policy would make it far more difficult to gain entry into the US.
In the Mexican border town of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, people arrived steadily on Wednesday, stripping down before descending a steep bank clutching plastic bags filled with clothes. They slowly waded into the river, one man holding a baby in an open suitcase on his head.
On the US side, they put on dry clothing and picked their way through concertina wire. Many surrendered to authorities, hoping to be released to stay legally while pursuing their cases in backlogged immigration courts, a process which can take years.
At the border wall in San Ysidro, California, across from Tijuana, Mexico, hundreds of people crossed on Wednesday and were waiting to be processed by US authorities. The group included families with young children and people from Colombia, Brazil, Afghanistan and Turkey.
Members of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker charity, handed out silver, reflective blankets to keep people warm in the freezing…