U.S.-Mexico border towns brace for Title 42 expiration as migrant arrivals push capacity limits

The shelter for migrant women and children was running out of space Wednesday when a teary-eyed woman and her 7-year-old son rang the doorbell and sheepishly peeked inside.

The pair had just arrived by bus from the Mexican state of Guerrero, each carrying small, stuffed backpacks, after a gang burned down their house and threatened to kill the woman. Advised by a friend that Mexicali was a good place to cross the border, the 31-year-old woman, who asked to be identified by her initials J.Z. out of fear for her safety, said she had planned to turn herself in to border authorities.

She knew nothing about Title 42, the pandemic-era U.S. border policy set to lift Thursday night. And she had never heard of CBP One, the phone application migrants are required by U.S. authorities to use to make appointments to request asylum.