unveiling strict new measures to replace Title 42, which since March 2020 has allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.The new policies crack down on illegal crossings while also setting up legal pathways for migrants who apply online, seek a sponsor and undergo background checks.
If successful, the reforms could fundamentally alter how migrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border.But it will take time to see results.
Biden has conceded the border will be chaotic for a while. Immigrant advocacy groups have threatened legal action. And migrants fleeing poverty, gangs and persecution in their homelands are still desperate to reach U.S.
soil at any cost.Many migrants were acutely aware of looming policy changes as they searched Thursday for an opportunity to turn themselves over to U.S.