No man's land on the US-Mexican border

After 40 months, the US has officially ended its COVID-19 emergency on May 11. The move also lifts the controversial Title 42 migration rule introduced by former President Donald Trump in March 2020.

For the people now crossing a barbed-wire fence on the US side of the Rio Grande border river, the lifting of the entry ban means hope — Title 42 allowed US authorities to turn back migrants at the border during the pandemic. More than 2.5 million people were denied entry to the US during that period.

The US government has warned that the border is not open after the expiration of Title 42. Title 8 replaces the previous regulation, which means people entering the country can apply for asylum if they are threatened with persecution and torture in their country of origin. Those who do not apply for asylum can be immediately deported.

Authorities now expect to see a surge of refugees along the 3,100-kilometer (1,920-mile) border between the US and Mexico. Many migrants see the end of Title 42 as the beginning of a relaxed immigration policy. The group seen in the photo above used a rope to wade through the Rio Grande.

On the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, this woman hopes for a better life in the US, like so many people from South and Central America. Washington has estimated that more than 150,000 migrants are waiting in northern Mexico, hoping to head north. People are fleeing poverty, violence, autocratic regimes, natural disasters and organized crime.

These migrants sitting in front of a church in El Paso have made it to the US. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser expects up to 15,000 new arrivals in the coming days and weeks. Between 8,000 and 10,000 migrants are waiting in Mexico in neighboring Ciudad Juarez, he said. In addition, a "caravan" of refugees was on its way to that Mexican border town.

Authorities in many US border cities are already overwhelmed. In El Paso, these migrants who have escaped deportation sleep on the streets. Children beg for money, and people only have access to makeshift hygiene facilities.

Whether the end of Title 42 will make it easier to enter the "land of opportunity" is doubtful. The Biden administration has announced that it will continue to take strict action against illegal border crossings. It has mobilized 1,500 additional soldiers to support border protection.