Hundreds of migrants were seen attempting to cross the U.S. and Mexico border as COVID-era asylum restrictions came to an end after three years.
Title 42, a Trump-era policy that restricted asylum claims from migrants and allowed U.S. authorities to turn people back at the border, ended on May 11th at 11:59 p.m. Already, migrants were seen rushing to the U.S.-Mexico border in the days before the lift, with some migrants fearing that new policies enacted by the Biden administration would make asylum claims tougher to process.
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John Moore/Getty Images
A U.S. Border Patrol agent search migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border on May 12, 2023 in El Paso, Texas.
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Alfredo Estrella/Getty Images
Migrant families attempt to reach the United States via the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico, May 11, 2023.
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Alfredo Estrella/Getty Images
Migrant families attempt to reach the United States via the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico, May 11, 2023.
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Migrants line up to board vans after waiting along the border wall to surrender to border patrol agents for immigration and asylum claim processing upon crossing the Rio Grande river into the United Staes, in El Paso, Texas. May 11, 2023.
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Migrants, some with young babies and children, make their way into the Rio Grande to enter the United States on May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico.
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Alfredo Estrella/Getty Images
Migrants cross the Rio Grande as they try to get to the United States, as seen from Matamoros, Mexico, May 11, 2023.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Migrants make their way across the Rio Grande to enter the United States on May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico.
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Migrants cross on the banks of the Rio Grande as they wait to be processed by the Border Patrol of El Paso Sector, Texas, after crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on May 11, 2023.
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Migrants wait for asylum hearings at the US-Mexico border on May 11, 2023, as seen from San Ysidro, California.
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Alfredo Estrella/Getty Images
Migrants cross the Rio Grande as they try to get to the United States, as seen from Matamoros, Mexico, May 11, 2023.
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Carlos Moreno/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Migrants are stuck between the Tijuana-San Diego border for the past week, hoping to enter the United States, after Title 42 expires in San Diego, CA, United States on May 11, 2023.
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Katie McTiernan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A family sleeps, as migrants face long wait times for border patrol officers at the USA border with Mexico, on the last day of Title 42, in Yuma, Arizona, on May 11, 2023.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Migrants walk into the Rio Grande as they attempt to cross to enter the United States on May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico.
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A migrant holds up a four-month-old baby as they cross the Rio Grande with a group of other migrants en route to the United States, May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico.
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Afredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images
Migrants travel through the waters of the Rio Grande to the U.S., as seen from Matamoros, Mexico, May 11, 2023.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Migrants swim across the Rio Grande as they try to enter the United States, while members of the Texas National Guard and other U.S. law enforcement officials watch on May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Migrants speak with members of the Texas National Guard and other law enforcement officials after crossing the Rio Grande to try and enter the United States on May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico.
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Migrants surrender to Border Patrol agents at the US-Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona, May 11, 2023.
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Migrants seeking asylum in the United States wait in line to be processed by border patrol agents after crossing into Arizona from Mexico on May 11, 2023 in Yuma, Arizona.
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Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Migrants surrender to border patrol agents the day before Title 42 lifts, at the US-Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona, May 11, 2023.
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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
Migrants wait along the border wall to surrender to Customs and Border Protection agents for immigration and asylum claim processing after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States, on the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, May 11, 2023.
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Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images
Migrants wait for asylum hearings at the US-Mexico border on May 10, 2023 in San Ysidro, California.
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Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Migrants surrender to border patrol agents the day before Title 42 lifts, at the US-Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona, May 11, 2023.
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Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images
Customs and Border Protection officers run a drill at the San Ysidro crossing port on the U.S.-Mexico border, seen from Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on May 10, 2023.
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Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images
Aid workers charge cell phones belonging to migrants as they wait for asylum hearings at the US-Mexico border, May 10, 2023 in San Ysidro, California.
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Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images
Migrants wait for asylum hearings at the US-Mexico border, May 10, 2023, as seen from San Ysidro, California.
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Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images
Migrants wait on the banks of the Rio Grande to be processed by the Border Patrol El Paso Sector, Texas, after crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on May 10, 2023.
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John Moore/Getty Images
An immigrant family from Venezuela covers up during a dust storm at a makeshift immigrant camp located between the Rio Grande and the U.S.-Mexico border fence on May 10, 2023 in El Paso, Texas.
