Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, May 09, 2025

‘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

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Incident Reflection: A Harsh Reality Check
Pakistani migrants to Danish man: “ “We have 5 children while you have 1 or 2. In 10 years, there will be more Pakistanis than Danes here.“
Clashes Erupt in London as Tensions Rise Between Indian and Pakistani Communities
Specialized anti-drone weapons deployed among security personnel Ahead of Papal Funeral
How do you fix this culture?
×