Title 42 Lifted: What's Next for Migrants at the U.S. Border?

The end of the pandemic-era expulsion policy, Title 42, has not resulted in a surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border, but economic, political, and environmental factors driving people to the United States are unlikely to subside. The Biden administration's new policy combines the carrot of new legal pathways with the stick of more punitive measures for unlawful crossings. Migrants are now barred from requesting asylum at the border unless they prove that a country they transited through denied them protection. The administration aims to dissuade migrants from setting out on the journey to the border, but a renewed surge could deepen both the humanitarian crisis and political headaches for the administration.