Immigration and Migration

The changes have reduced the number of illegal border crossings by around 50 percent, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But they’re also putting pressure on shelters in Mexico, where thousands of migrants like Lucena are stranded, as they try to schedule appointments on the government’s app.

Ricardo E. Gonzalez Zayas was one of over 14,000 Cuban children who were part of “Operation Pedro Pan” — a secret, mass exodus to the U.S. via air between 1960-1962 from the newly created communist nation located just 90 miles from our Florida coast.

Processing of migrants will be fully reinstated under Title 8, a measure that experts said would stiffen the consequences for migrants who attempt to cross the border into the United States irregularly.

Catholics working with migrants welcomed the end of Title 42, saying it had prevented many migrants from applying for asylum and, in many cases, forced people back to dangerous Mexican border towns where they were extorted and kidnapped by police and drug cartels. But they also expressed misgivings about what might replace it.

Since its 2020 implementation, Title 42 has been invoked more than 2.7 million times to expel migrants, including those seeking asylum, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

As Title 42 draws to its scheduled close, House Republicans are planning to vote on border security legislation criticized by the U.S. bishops.