“For more than a year, I have been calling on[the Biden administration]to prepare for the expected surge in immigration after Title 42 ends,” Arizona Senator Kirsten Cinema said in a statement last week.

Article 42, enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, directs immigration authorities to immediately deport individuals who cross the border without documentation, even if they are asylum seekers. bottom. The deadline was due to expire Thursday night at 8:59 p.m. Arizona time, after NI’s reporting deadline.

A few hours before the change, Ambos Nogales was experiencing high levels of asylum-related activity. People line up at ports of entry to schedule asylum claims, and hopeful family groups cross the gap in the border fence on the west side of the city. About applying for asylum. However, it appeared to be a continuation of an existing movement. There was no visible sign of an ongoing or pending “surge”, at least at this time.

On the other hand, there has been much turmoil in the political world, with the Biden administration introducing new regulations to replace Title 42, and politicians criticizing and criticizing the government’s seemingly chaotic response. rice field.

Signs of a complex and frequently changing immigration system were evident Thursday in Nogales, Sonora, just south of the Dennis DeConcini port of entry. Several buses owned by the Mexican Immigration Enforcement Agency were parked nearby. They were left empty and it was unclear how they would be used. An immigrant father, who had just spoken to a Mexican immigration officer, wandered with his young son in Plaza Pesqueira, pondering aloud what to do next after failing to enter the United States.

Regular pedestrians, including shoppers and travelers, waited in line at the Dennis DeConcini port of entry on Thursday morning.

And nearby, a short line of immigrants stood and sat along the SENTRI Trusted Traveler pedestrian lane. A manila folder clenched and a suitcase rolling. Others were staring at their phones. One of them, a young girl with pigtails, was sitting on the tiled floor, playing quietly with a stuffed blue cow.

Immigrants told NI they had successfully set up an appointment with a U.S. immigration officer through CBP One, a mobile app the federal government is promoting as the primary means of entry for immigrants fleeing imminent danger in their home countries. .

But the app has been up and running for months, making Nogales the only site offering reservations along the Arizona-Sonora border. While Thursday’s reservation line didn’t seem to have anything to do with the “surge”, a nearby coil of bellows of wire reminded U.S. Customs and Border Protection that they were prepared for potential problems. served as a reminder.

When asked about his feelings waiting for his asylum application to begin, one of the immigrants, a Haitian man named Jameson (who didn’t want to give his last name), grinned.

Jameson said the app was easy for him and his friends to use. By the time they made the appointment, CBP One was available in his native Haitian Creole. When first published, the app was only available in two languages ​​he Spanish and English.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas continued to discuss the app as an important step in the Biden administration’s asylum policy. According to Mayorkas, the app currently accepts reservations for about 740 people a day across the country. The government reportedly hopes to expand its capacity to 1,000 people daily in the future.

He added that the majority of those granted asylum-seeking appointments are Haitians, people like Jameson.

Still, the final moments of Title 42 left confusion for those who couldn’t schedule an asylum interview. Especially as the Biden administration seeks to further restrict the asylum application process by introducing an old policy known as Title 8. of title 42.

“Anyone arriving at the southern border after midnight tonight will be deemed ineligible for asylum,” Mayorcas said in a statement on Thursday, adding that asylum seekers will face criminal charges and face several years of re-entry bans. He added that it is possible.

The policy shift has provoked strong protests from immigration advocacy groups such as the Kino Border Initiative, based in Ambos Nogales, and the implementation of Title 8 is equally harmful to immigrants fleeing danger and persecution. claims.

“Just as the unnecessary and cruel Title 42 border closure is finally going to expire, the Biden administration is looking to replace it with this new rule that is equally cruel and illegal in many ways,” KBI said Wednesday. said in a statement.

In Mariposa Slab, about 2.4 miles west of Nogales, a large group of asylum-seeking migrants has crossed through a crack in the unfinished border wall since last fall. As of Thursday, the gap is still wide open.

Construction workers arrived in the area earlier this spring to repair unfinished work on the wall project, which was abruptly halted when Biden took office in January 2021. But early Thursday afternoon, the only visible work on the site was the modification of a few machines. A path along the wall just west of the slab.

Meanwhile, asylum seekers continued to pass through openings in the border wall.

When NI reporters arrived at the scene around 1:30 p.m., a group of 18 people, mostly families, including small children, were sitting in the shade just north of the border fence. . They said they began their journey through Mexico, Guatemala and Peru before crossing the border from Nogales, Sonora, on foot overnight.

Then another family showed up on the Mexican side of the fence – a man, a woman, and two young children. They climbed over an unfinished barrier and joined the others under a tree. Almost immediately, a group of nine more men, women and children from Guatemala crossed over.

None of the immigrants seemed to have heard of Title 42, nor of the pending changes to US border policy. Instead, they cited the usual reasons for leaving their homeland and seeking asylum in the United States, including fear of violence and fear of children.

A few minutes later, a Border Patrol officer arrived in a van, asked a few questions, handed me a bottle of water, and prepared to take it away. However, the location was not clear.

During a Crossroads mission in Nogales, Arizona last week, NI spoke with three Venezuelan immigrants who were allowed to enter the United States pending court proceedings on their asylum applications.

Still, it is unusual for an asylum seeker to stay in Nogales for an extended period of time or have a visible presence in Nogales.

Crossroads Mission operations director Jason Gonzalez told NI that when cargo enters the country via the Port of Nogales, it usually goes to Tucson through the work of local NGOs. From there, they move to other cities further from the border.

Additionally, local authorities are working with Pima County, along with Tucson nonprofit Casa Aritas, to facilitate travel and assistance, said Soveira Castro, Santa Cruz County Emergency Management Officer.

However, Nogales seems to show different results than other border communities. In El Paso, Texas, immigrants have been released into a much larger city for months and often face difficulties finding shelter, according to Texas-based media reports. In late April, El Paso Mayor Oscar Reeser declared a state of emergency.

And in Tijuana, south of the California-Mexico border, migrants are building makeshift camps seeking asylum.

Efforts to stem the surge in Arizona are being discussed statewide. Governor Katie Hobbs issued a statement last week proposing a five-point plan that includes partnering with NGOs and coordinating with federal authorities the transportation of asylum seekers entering the country.