'Very Afraid': Migrants Race To Cross US Border Before Rules Shift

Brownsville, United States, May 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th May, 2023 ) :Dasling Sanchez rests on a piece of cardboard with her two children near a gas station in Brownsville, Texas, a border town where hundreds of migrants have arrived ahead of immigration restrictions ending, which some fear may actually complicate entry.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden's administration will lift Title 42, the strict protocol implemented by Donald Trump to deny entry to migrants, including asylum seekers, based on the Covid pandemic.

Although the looming expiration has raised fears of a deluge of illegal entries along the southern US border, some such as Sanchez believe it could make it more difficult to enter the United States.

"We were very afraid because they say after May 11 they are not going to let you pass through," Sanchez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan who had been waiting across the border in Matamoros, Mexico, told AFP as she and her two sons ate pizza from a Catholic charity.

With Title 42 lifted, the US administration plans to control and deter undocumented migration using means including a new regulation that would turn away asylum seekers who did not first seek protection in one of the countries they traveled through.

And while migrants can still be deported, under Title 42 they were often simply sent back across the border to Mexico, where they could continue attempting to cross.

"I was a little afraid because when Title 42 runs out, they deport you directly, and you went through all that journey, you sold all your things, and you are left with nothing. I was afraid of that," said 28-year-old Venezuelan Leandro Ruiz.

For Sanchez, who like thousands of migrants was waiting at the border in Mexico, the coming changes meant acting quickly.