Tens of thousands wait at US border for pandemic-era asylum restrictions to ease

The US Supreme Court on Monday allowed Title 42 to remain in place temporarily while a legal challenge by Republican state attorneys general seeking to extend the measure is decided. Title 42 allows US authorities to rapidly expel migrants to Mexico and other countries without a chance to seek US asylum. (Reuters)

The US government asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday not to lift the limits before Christmas, a day after Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary order to keep the restrictions in place. The order is slated to expire Wednesday. (Reuters)

Since Joe Biden took office in January 2021, about half of the record 4 million migrants encountered at the US-Mexico border have been expelled under Title 42, while the other half has been allowed into the country. (Reuters)

The rise in people crossing the border has overwhelmed some border communities like El Paso, Texas, which declared a state of emergency over the weekend as hundreds of migrants were on the streets. (Reuters)

Under Title 42, the United States typically can only expel migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela to Mexico. Mexico won't accept Nicaraguans, for example, or migrants from certain South American countries, who generally have been allowed into the United States to pursue their immigration cases. (Reuters)

Members of the Texas National Guard stand guard on the banks of the Rio Bravo river, the border between the United States and Mexico, with the purpose of reinforcing border security and inhibiting the crossing of migrants into the United States, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Reuters)

The Supreme Court now will decide whether to halt the policy while the states' legal challenge plays out. (Reuters)