Migrants hopeful as U.S. ends Title 42, says aid worker. But many will still be turned away 

As It Happens6:37Migrants hopeful as U.S. ends Title 42, says aid worker. But many will still be turned away

Migrant aid worker Enrique Valenzuela is trying to warn people crossing the U.S. border from Juarez, Mexico, that they have a slim chance of being granted asylum on the other side.

Migrants in Mexico rushed to line up at U.S. border entries on Thursday. Some were hoping to get through before strict new immigration rules come into effect just before midnight. Others were hoping the simultaneous end of pandemic restrictions will finally give them a chance to have their asylum claims heard. 

At 11:59 p.m. Thursday, the U.S. is lifting its COVID-19 public health emergency — and with it, Title 42. The policy, enacted under former U.S. president Donald Trump, allowed U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants, or turn them away at the border, without hearing their asylum claims. 

When Title 42 ends, the U.S. will revert to its pre-pandemic rules, known as Title 8. This will allow people to have their asylum claims heard. But it also means that people caught crossing into the U.S. outside official ports of entry will not be allowed to return for five years, and can face criminal prosecution if they do.

President Joe Biden has also brought in new restrictions. Officials will turn away asylum seekers who didn't first apply online, or seek protection in a country they travelled through on their way to the border. What's more, all asylum seekers must use the official CBP One mobile app to book an appointment at an official U.S. point of entry before they can make their claim.

Valenzuela is the head of the State Population Council for Chihuahua and the executive director of the Center for Migrant Attention in Juarez, a multi-level, state-run centre that provides humanitarian aid and information to people trying to make their way to the U.S. Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Nil Köksal. 

How would you describe how people are feeling in Juarez today, given what is going to happen with Title 42?

At this point, a lot of people have left shelters. They have abandoned some of the improvised camp encampments that were set up here.

Yet we still have a number of people waiting and hopeful to have an opportunity to get into the United States. 

Despite the changes, you still see that there's hope? People feel hopeful?

Despite the change, a lot of people are approaching the wall and are trying to go into the United States.

And I believe people, at this point, are receiving important information because the U.S. government has been doing a very responsible effort [to ensure] that everybody is informed of the effects that Title 8 will have now that Title 42 is to be lifted.  

WATCH | What is Title 42?

Crisis at the U.S. border: Title 42, explained | About That

2 years ago

Duration 9:22

How do you feel, Enrique, about this change? 

I do believe that it is important for people to know exactly what they will be facing once they get to this border and try to enter the United States. I feel it's important for people to know what their chances are. 

Despite what Title 8 means, a lot of people will very likely be showing up at this border — and other borders, of course — just to present themselves before U.S. authorities and to try to have some kind of opportunity to in the United States, to request, at some point, some sort of international protection through to asylum. 

Are people you've been speaking to, migrants, worried about the end of Title 42 and the changes that come with it?

They are still hopeful because they know that when Title 42 ends, they will not be returned in an expedited manner as it was before. They will go through this process through Title 8. They will have a chance to be heard by the American authorities. 

And yet, as we have been informing them, there is a very, very small possibility that they will be granted some sort of international protection or some sort of legal status — even provisional legal status — so they can stay in the United States. 

Yet, a lot of people are, at this moment, forming lines to get into the United States.

We know that that many people still are working their way through the app. And many other people might be interested in finding other ways, despite the fact that we always advise them not to risk it, not to cross the river, and always try to approach U.S. authorities [at] authorized ports of entry, of course. And that the only way, the official mechanism that has been instated for them to enter the United States, is through the app, [the] CBP One app. 

You told … our CBC News colleague Paul Hunter back in March about how you were seeing, in some cases, hundreds and hundreds of people show up. Has that changed in recent days? 

Despite the fact that maybe all of these people have continued to arrive at the border, the thing is, most of them have gone directly to the gates and tried to turn themselves in. 

Why? Because many of them think it's better to go ahead and do this before this policy changes, before Title 42 ends, despite the fact that ... they will be subject to Title 8 if they're not put through Title 42.

There's been a lot of criticism of U.S. authorities for the app they've created so people can book asylum appointments. What kind of challenges are they facing when they try to book those appointments? 

It's not that the app has problems, per se. It's just the demand. It's too many people trying to have access through an app that only provides a certain amount of spaces.

You're clearly very busy. Your phone is buzzing.... How are you dealing with everything and this change that is going to come? 

At this point we are doing the only thing we can do.

Our mission here is to provide humanitarian attention, to provide information — official information — regarding the opportunities that the people on the move might have here on this side of the border, regarding the official information that is provided by U.S. authorities regarding … the official mechanism that they have to go through to try to enter the United States.

So it's information, humanitarian attention — and inclusion, of course.