This information is drawn heavily from updates published by Taylor Levy, an attorney in El Paso, Texas who is one of the foremost experts on US immigration policy at the southern border. Her ongoing updates can be found here.

This article is provided by LINU for informational purposes only, and should not be considered legal advice. Please see our Terms & Conditions.

Danger of Crime and Kidnapping

First, Mexico can be extremely dangerous for migrants, especially those who are easily identifiable by race and language.  It can be very dangerous to travel from Mexico City to the border if you are not under the protection of smugglers. For example, while anyone can buy a bus or plane ticket to the border, cartels systematically monitor border bus stations and airports for arriving migrants—these locations are hotspots for kidnappings, especially in Nuevo Laredo.  Some of the kidnappings are perpetrated by taxi drivers and Uber drivers. The kidnappings are for the purpose of extorting family members for ransom payments, and migrants perceived as having wealthy relatives are at an increased risk of kidnapping. 

What is Title 42?

Second, the ports of entry (POEs) are still officially closed for all nationalities under Title 42, a law that permits the U.S. government to expel people who have recently been in a country where a communicable disease was present. The law is found at 42 U.S.C. §265. The Trump administration implemented the use of this law during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Biden administration has attempted to end the use of this law, but lawsuits challenging the end of Title 42 are ongoing. For the time being, Title 42 is still in force.  Title 42 prevents asylum seekers at U.S. borders from asking for asylum at POEs.  

Exceptions to Title 42

Ukrainians were largely granted exceptions to Title 42 and allowed entry during March and April of 2022, but following the creation of the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian parole program, Ukrainians attempting to enter the U.S. at the southern border are turned away and referred to apply for Uniting for Ukraine. There is no policy allowing Title 42 exemptions for Ukrainians who can show that their U4U applications were denied.

Thousands of people, including many Russians and other nationalities, are waiting in the border towns for exemptions to cross through a port of entry but very few exceptions are granted. 

When migrants are turned away from the U.S. POE under Title 42, they are frequently turned over to Mexican immigration authorities, who may deport them or encourage them to apply for asylum in Mexico. If a migrant files an asylum application in Mexico but later makes it to the United States, it may negatively affect the migrant’s ability to apply for asylum in the United States. Furthermore, Mexican immigration authorities sometimes ask for bribes to release migrants, or turn migrants over to the cartels.

Some people attempt to enter the U.S. using the “car trick”. CBP officers are always stationed at the pedestrian lines, but the car lanes are not always fully staffed.  Some people attempt to drive across the border without being stopped by CBP officers, because if they can get onto U.S. soil, they will have evaded Title 42 and be permitted to seek asylum. However, many people are caught and the car trick is dangerous; in December 2021, CBP officers shot into two vehicles of Russian asylum-seekers that were attempting to drive past officers and get onto U.S. soil using the “car trick.”

Some immigrants have attempted to avoid the ports of entry and enter the U.S. without inspection (i.e., cross the border illegally)  and then surrender to CBP officers once in the U.S. It is difficult to cross the border without the assistance of coyotes, who often charge tens of thousands of dollars, and are often involved with violent drug cartels.  If apprehended by CBP, migrants are generally sent to ICE detention, especially in Louisiana. Migrants who have been detained by ICE are placed in removal proceedings. If you believe a loved one may have been detained by ICE, you can check the ICE detainee locator, https://locator.ice.gov/odls/.  People held for CBP “processing” will not show up in this locator tool.

On January 5, 2023, the U.S. government announced an expansion of authority under Title 42 to expel migrants to Mexico after they have been apprehended on the U.S. side of the border. Now, any citizens of Nicaragua, Haiti, or Cuba who are caught on the U.S. side will be sent back to Mexico without being placed in immigration detention or removal proceedings. This authority already existed for Venezuelans, Salvadorans, Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Mexicans. For the time being, citizens of countries of the former Soviet Union are not subject to this expansion of Title 42 expulsion authority. 

On January 5, 2023, the U.S. government also announced that all requests for exceptions from Title 42 must be made via an app called CBP One. Migrants who want to ask for asylum must download this app and make an appointment to go to the port of entry to ask for an exception to Title 42. Private organizations and attorneys will not be able to make appointments for Title 42 exceptions. 

Even People Granted an Exception to Title 42 May Be Put in Removal Proceedings

When migrants are granted exceptions from Title 42, they are often–though not always–granted humanitarian parole. Parole allows an individual who is not eligible for admission into the United States to be in the United States for a temporary period for “urgent humanitarian reasons” or “significant public benefit.”  Prior to the announcement of the Uniting for Ukraine program, Ukrainians who were granted exceptions from Title 42 were generally given a grant of parole valid for one year or just under one year.  Migrants of other nationalities, including Russians, who are granted parole report widely varying lengths of parole, sometimes as short as two weeks, sometimes as long as a year. Some people are granted an exemption but are not  granted parole, and are allowed to enter the United States only to be given a “Notice to Appear” and placed in immigration detention. A Notice to Appear is the charging document that initiates removal proceedings against a noncitizen and states when the noncitizen must appear in immigration court.

Even people who request and are granted humanitarian parole at the POEs are often held for several days before release, especially single adults. This is not officially Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “detention,” but rather is considered Customs and Border Protection “processing.”  It may feel like detention, but the distinction is important, especially if an attorney is calling CBP attempting to locate or assist a migrant. Most people who enter on humanitarian parole at the border are nevertheless also later issued Notices to Appear and placed in removal proceedings. Anyone who enters through the southern border should take note of their A number (a nine-digit number issued by U.S. immigration authorities) and regularly check the Executive Office of Immigration Review case status website to make sure they know about any scheduled hearings in immigration court.  https://acis.eoir.justice.gov/en/ 

Lifting Title 42 Will Not End Problems at the Border

Even if Title 42 is eventually lifted and all migrants are permitted to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, the dangers of kidnapping and cartel violence will remain, and there will almost certainly be delays and backlogs in the number of people that CBP will process through POEs each day. Thousands of people who were denied an opportunity to seek asylum for the last three years because of Title 42 are likely to come to the border again. If Title 42 is lifted, it is unclear if CBP will continue to refer all Ukrainians to the Uniting for Ukraine program or if it will permit some Ukrainians to request asylum at the border. 

Further, even when migrants  are permitted to request asylum at the border, they are unlikely to simply be allowed to enter the United States to apply for asylum.  Instead, if they express a fear of return to their country, they will likely be allowed into the United States but placed in immigration detention. 

Finally, asylum-seekers of all nationalities face challenges to winning an asylum claim in the United States.  More information about asylum eligibility can be found here. 

What About Minors Attempting to Cross the Border?

If anyone under the age of 18 tries to cross the border without their biological parent (whose name is on their birth certificate), they have a very high chance of being separated from whoever they are with. This includes children under the age of 18 who are accompanied by their siblings, their grandparents, their cousins, etc., even if the non-parent relatives have a power of attorney. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  interprets the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act to require legal guardianship in the form of a judicial custody order. Even then, if the judicial court order is in a language other than English, they often err on the side of refusing to accept it and default to separation.

The child will be considered an “unaccompanied minor” and transferred from DHS custody to Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody. This is supposed to happen in 72 hours. Once in ORR custody, the child may be moved throughout the United States to a facility that has bed space. For children over the age of 12 this usually (not always) means group homes. For children under the age of 12 this usually (not always) means foster families at night and a group home setting during the day. ORR attempts to keep minor siblings together.

Once an unaccompanied minor is taken into custody, the closest relative (preferably the parent) should contact ORR at 1-800-203-7001 or via email at information@ORRNCC.com. The ORR hotline will not give out information about the child beyond that they are or are not in custody of ORR. If they are in custody of ORR, they will send the caller’s contact information to the facility where the child is being held. Social workers will then reach out to the family to begin the reunification process. This process usually takes about two weeks to be reunited with parents and longer to be reunited with non-parents.

Instruction to use CBP One ™

Instruction to use CBP OneTM, a free mobile application for land travelers to submit their traveler information before crossing the southern border into the United States. This instruction is composed by Taylor Levy, an attorney in El Paso, Texas who is one of the foremost experts on US immigration policy at the southern border.

Как использовать CBP One ™