As Trump-era immigration policy remains in limbo, so do the lives of thousands of migrants waiting on the other side of the US border, many sleeping outdoors in overcrowded camps or shelters, hoping to cross. to apply for asylum.
In Matamoros, Mexico, near the US border in front of Brownsville in the southern tip of Texas, the migrants, mostly Venezuelans and Haitians, live in a large encampment, with tarp-covered tents and clotheslines hanging stretch between them. Some families have been waiting there for weeks.
Many, including sick mothers and children, are living on the streets, in abandoned houses and on the sidewalks while they wait. “They feel desperate,” said Glady Edith Cañas, director of the nonprofit organization Ayudandos a Triunfar.
Others venture across the Rio Grande, which separates Matamoros from the US.
On Monday, some used inflatable rafts to cross, pulling a rope attached to the American side and bringing the raft back.
Invoked at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Title 42 is a public health border policy that allowed officials to turn away migrants at the southern border.
Just days before the policy was due to end on Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts put its ending on hold on Monday, temporarily maintaining Trump-era public health restrictions.
Now, uncertainty hangs over those who wait at the border.
Meanwhile, on the westernmost edge of Texas, about 800 miles northwest of Matamoros, National Guard troops and state police line up on one side of the Rio Grande River in El Paso, and armed members of the Mexican military line up. in some parts of the other side in Ciudad Juárez. .
There, after crossing the river, wading through the discarded belongings of those who came before them, the migrants have lined up for hours near the border wall to turn themselves in to US Border Patrol agents.
When the sun went down, some built fires to keep warm and wrapped themselves in blankets and stood in line.
Overnight on Tuesday, members of the National Guard and state troopers installed barbed wire, blocking a common crossing used by thousands of migrants in recent weeks. Migrants waiting to cross were told to proceed to a nearby bridge for asylum processing.
Four people were detained after they tried to crawl under the barbed wire, video showed.
Elsewhere on the US side, shelters are full and still not all are protected. A crowd of migrants could be seen sleeping on the ground in front of a bus station on Sunday in El Paso, Texas.
The mayor said Monday that he heard there were more than 20,000 on the Mexican side of the border, waiting for Title 42 to be lifted.
Drone footage showed a large crowd of migrants lining up near the border in El Paso on Tuesday, with families and young children waiting near barbed wire and Texas National Guard troops.
Across the Rio Grande, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, has also seen an increase in arrivals in recent weeks, according to Mayor Pérez Cuéllar. “This is a city of migrants,” he told CNN.
Thousands are also waiting for Title 42 to be lifted in Reynosa, a Mexican city just across the border from the Rio Grande Valley, including 4,000 staying at two shelters and about 4,000 in other camps and surrounding areas, according to the pastor. Hector Silva. .
He watched his mother fall off a cliff on her journey. He is one of thousands looking for a new home in the US.
Migrants arriving at the border often go through arduous journeys to get there.
One migrant, who gave his name as Brian, told CNN in Spanish that he and his mother left Venezuela three months ago full of dreams of a life in the United States. He alone made it to South Texas.
The mother and son were traveling through the infamous Darien Gap, a dangerous 37-mile stretch of jungle through which migrants cross from Colombia to Panama. Brian said he was helping her mother across when she caught a branch and then fell off a cliff into a river.
Now, on his way to New York, Brian said he’ll never forget the look in his mother’s eyes as she fell.
US border officials have been preparing for an influx of immigrants
In the run up to what was supposed to be the Title 42 expiration date, border authorities in the Rio Grande Valley have encountered between 900 and 1,200 migrants daily for the past two weeks, a federal source told CNN. law enforcement.
Officials have predicted that lifting Title 42 would likely result in an increase in the number of immigrants trying to cross into the US, and border cities have braced for a flood of immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security projected that between 9,000 and 14,000 migrants could attempt to cross the southern US border daily when Title 42 ends, more than double the current number of people crossing, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, housing arriving immigrants has presented a challenge.
“I really believe that today our asylum seekers are not safe because we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets and that is not the way we want to treat people,” the El Paso mayor said Saturday.
Two vacant schools in El Paso will be used as temporary shelter facilities for migrants, city officials announced Tuesday, in addition to three emergency shelter hotels.
The city is also sending teams to the different areas where migrants are concentrated to provide transportation and temporary shelter services.
“All eyes are on El Paso, and for this reason, we must show the world the compassion our community is known for and illustrate the resiliency and strength of our region,” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, it’s a statement.
Title 42 frozen, but plans are still on track
The Department of Homeland Security released a plan for the scheduled end of Title 42 last week. It involved increasing resources for the border, including hiring nearly 1,000 Border Patrol processing coordinators, and increasing transportation resources, such as flights and buses.
Despite the policy end freeze, US officials are going ahead with planning.
“We carry on as if nothing has changed,” a senior US Customs and Border Protection official told CNN, adding that policy discussions are still underway to provide other legal avenues for Nicaraguans, Haitians and Cubans. that make up a large number of encounters.
As for what will happen on Wednesday if the expiration is still on hold, one official said there may be a “mini increase.”
“I think there are some who probably haven’t gotten the message and won’t get it until they cross,” the official said. “There are some already committed who are going to cross.”
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Rosa Flores, David Culver, Catherine E. Shoichet, Priscilla Alvarez and CNN’s Ed Lavandera contributed to this report.