More than 24,000 agents and law enforcement have been deployed in Texas to prevent a massive influx of migrants.
It was at 11:59 p.m. very precise, Thursday evening, that a measure, “Title 42”, which allowed the United States to lock access to their territory since the start of the pandemic, expired. This suppression has caused confusion among many migrants at the border and made authorities fear a “chaotic” influx.
To prepare, Texas has mobilized “more than 24,000 agents and law enforcement” at the border, in addition to 4,000 soldiers. At the same time, US President Joe Biden conceded that the situation would be “chaotic for a while”.
Confusion
In Matamoros, a Mexican border town of Brownsville in Texas, migrants continued to cross the Rio Grande River towards the United States on foot or in improvised canoes.
Coming from the other side, a message in Spanish was repeated over a loudspeaker: “Stay in Mexico, it is illegal to cross into the United States. If you cross, you will be deported”.
Some migrants rushed across the border some 3,000 km before the lifting of “Title 42” to apply for asylum, fearing that the change in rules would prevent them from doing so for five years.
