Photos: The surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border
Migrants cross the Rio Bravo to return to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Saturday, May 13, as members of the Texas National Guard extend razor wire at the border.
Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters

In pictures: The surge at the US-Mexico border

Updated 1656 GMT (0056 HKT) May 15, 2023

Migrants cross the Rio Bravo to return to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Saturday, May 13, as members of the Texas National Guard extend razor wire at the border.
Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters

The pandemic-era border restriction known as Title 42 has expired.

Officials have been warning that the change in policy could attract a surge of migrants and worsen an already challenging humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

Title 42 was first implemented under the Trump administration as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Migrants were either returned to their home countries or sent back into Mexico. Without the policy in place, US immigration authorities will return to decades-old protocols. Under that system, migrants are either removed from the country, detained or released into the United States while their cases make their way through immigration court.

The Biden administration has been making various preparations to deal with the anticipated influx. Thousands of reinforcements have been sent to the border, including asylum officers and US troops.