Bermuda Post

Thursday, Nov 07, 2024

‘We’re going to America’: Border hope and fear as Title 42 ends

‘We’re going to America’: Border hope and fear as Title 42 ends

The rule blocked 2.3 million people seeking asylum since the pandemic era policy was implemented.

Three years ago, when the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a halt, changing the way people live, it also fundamentally disrupted an act as old as humanity itself: migration.

In the United States, then-President Donald Trump’s administration introduced an emergency health order to stop the spread of COVID-19, targeting people looking to enter from the country’s southern border. The Title 42 rule allowed US authorities to turn away most migrants and refugees who arrive at the border, without giving them an opportunity to apply for protection. Since it was put in place, the US recorded 2.7 million Title 42 expulsions, according to government figures. This includes people who may have been turned away multiple times. The policy expired on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

On May 12, at the Tijuana-San Diego border crossing, a group of 200 migrants entered the US. They will now need to make it through a long-drawn process that can take years to decide whether a person gets asylum status to stay in the country.

The Department of Homeland Security has said under a new rule, Title 8, people will be disqualified from seeking asylum in the US if they did not apply in countries they crossed earlier in their journeys. The Mexican government also announced that they will continue to accept returns under Title 8 at the US border. Individuals removed under Title 8 are subject to a five-year bar on admission and potential criminal prosecution should they seek to re-enter in that period.

Yet that uncertainty is a risk many are willing to take, all in the hope of a new life eventually.

People from different nationalities at the San Diego-Tijuana border sector, waiting for days for Title 42 restrictions to be lifted, on May 9, 2023. Those migrants who do not cross the border but do so through a port of entry will have a 'credible fear' interview within 72 hours of being in custody, say border advocates and will be subjected to expedited removal procedures.


A homeless family waits outside the Movimiento Juventud 2000 Shelter in the border city of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Most shelters are already full of people looking to migrate to the US. Asylum seekers crowd the tight corridors of Tijuana's shelters before the ending of the Title 42 policy. Most people seeking asylum at the southern border originate from 'Northern Triangle' countries — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — and are often seeking to escape high rates of crime, gang activity, political repression, and sexual violence. The journey north for these asylum seekers can cost thousands of dollars, and by the time they arrive at the US border, they are often sick, exhausted, and traumatised, say advocates from the American Civil Liberties Union.


Asylum seekers stuck at a border wall separating Tijuana and San Diego pay and collect food from delivery people on May 11, 2023, as many have been in limbo waiting for Title 42 to be rescinded. Not everyone is waiting, though. 'I crossed by going under the wall,' an asylum seeker said from Latin America, 'we have to do what we can to cross.'


US Border Patrol police officers talk to a woman as asylum seekers at the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing wait for Title 42 restrictions to be lifted. At 8:59pm California Pacific Time (12:59 GMT), when the policy expired, the US implemented new legal pathways for migration but also enacted policies where irregular border crossings could result in a five-year ban on re-entry and possible criminal prosecution.


Ignacio, a migrant from the state of Guerrero, Mexico, made it to Tijuana, Mexico, with his family days before the end of the Title 42 policy. He is escaping from violent crimes and a drug menace that is affecting many Mexicans like him in small towns that he says are 'practically unlivable'.


Asylum seekers at a border wall separating Tijuana and San Diego pay and collect food from delivery people on May 11, 2023. Ordering a meal on a smartphone is much harder than it sounds. With limited opportunities to charge their phones or buy data, people must weigh their need to place food orders with the urgency to keep in touch with the outside world.


Asylum seekers at the Agape Mision Mundial shelter wait it out as they check their phones for appointments on the CBP One app that allows asylum seekers to enter the US. The app transitioned to a new appointment scheduling system on May 10, 2023. The CBP said it will also increase the number of appointments available to approximately 1,000 each day, and will prioritise non-citizens who have waited the longest.


n the green areas of the San Ysidro checkpoint, a group of approximately 40 people of Mexican origin from the state of Guerrero settle in the open field on May 8. Enrique Lucero, Tijuana municipal director of migrant assistance, goes to speak with the families, but they deny that they were waiting to request asylum in the US and say they are simply on vacation. Hours later, the people are no longer at the site. The United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR) counted 660,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Mexico before the end of Title 42.


A Customs and Border Patrol officer checks the Tijuana-San Diego sector of the border wall as the US prepares to lift Title 42, in San Diego, California on May 9, 2023.


Asylum seekers captured during a crossing by Customs and Border Patrol officers, in San Diego, California on May 9, 2023.


A man from Pakistan wraps his head with a large rag to protect his face from the sun as he waits with other people of other nationalities near the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing.


Some 400-500 people wait between the two walls that divide Mexico and the United States, for the Title 42 order to expire, on May 11.


The Tijuana Chaparral border in the early mornings of May 10, 2023, a day before Title 42’s lifting.


Asylum seekers from countries that include Mexico, Colombia, Albania, Ukraine and Russia wait in line to be escorted through the El Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana for their scheduled appointments the day after Title 42 was rescinded to make their asylum claim on May 12, 2023.


Two children from Colombia smile as they enjoy time with family under an improvised tent near the San Diego-Tijuana border gate. It is hot. Food and water are scarce. Still, the children seem to be in high spirits. 'We are going to America,' they say.



Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
'I just lost it' Lowe’s worker fired after 13 years of employment for confronting thieves trying to steal $2K of merchandise
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
×