An end to direct pushbacks at the American border. American authorities are afraid mass influx of immigrants at the country’s southern border this week, as a measure put in place during the pandemic that allowed for the immediate deportation of undocumented immigrants crossing the US land border is expected to be lifted.

This measure, known as Title 42, will be lifted at midnight Thursday Washington time.

The administration of US President Joe Biden is concerned that there will be a massive influx of immigrants to border cities.

The cities of El Paso, Brownsville and Laredo declared a local state of emergency, to increase the resources they can allocate to dealing with the immigrants already present, mainly people from Latin America. In El Paso, hundreds of people are sleeping on the streets, many on cardboard.

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser expects to face a wave “12,000 to 15,000 people” at the end of the week: up to 10,000 migrants are waiting in the neighboring Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, according to a recent count by local authorities, with more estimated to arrive at the border in the coming days.

Title 42 was activated in 2020 by the administration of former President Donald Trump, in the name of dealing with the pandemic. Biden’s successor extended his term.

Restoring the asylum system

Essentially, this measure prevented immigrants from accessing the US asylum system as they were being re-admitted. without being able to make a request.

From Friday they will again be able to apply for asylum and will be able to go to court to fight their readmission. This process may take years.

Republicans continue to attack Biden, predicting “chaos” at the border, while some believe the US is now “in a state of siege”.

The Biden administrationrolls out the red carpet to people from all over the world,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said yesterday and announced that he had mobilized the National Guard to patrol the border.

Last week the US government announced it was sending 1,500 additional troops to the US-Mexico border to supplement the 2,500 already stationed there to support border police.

At the same time, Washington has adopted a series of measures: Immigrants will now have to make an appointment to be interviewed by US immigration before arriving in the US. For this reason, an application for mobile phones, CBP One, has also been created.

But repeated problems in the system have angered many asylum seekers, with some deciding to wait at the border to try to enter the US illegally.

Tensions flared further in Texas after a driver in Brownsville plowed into and killed eight immigrants waiting at a bus stop.

El Paso plans to charter buses so immigrants arriving in the city can head to other parts of the US, a measure championed by the city’s mayor.

US immigration law “has not been working for some time”, long before the presidency of Biden or Trump, he estimated.

“It’s all endless and we really need to define where it’s going to go,” Leaser added.