Also, an election to watch in Turkey. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.
Crowds but not chaos at the border
Today marked the first day in more than three years that the Biden administration was unable to use pandemic-era restrictions known as Title 42 to expel migrants looking to cross into the U.S. As anticipated, the end of Title 42 spurred thousands of migrants to cross into the country, putting significant pressure on border facilities.
But so far, there has not been the unrest at the border that some officials feared.
“It does not feel chaotic or like a crisis,” my colleague Eileen Sullivan, who reported today from the border city of El Paso, said. “It’s certainly not the chaotic moment that had the Biden administration so concerned for so long.”
But, Eileen said, the sustained flow of migrants into the U.S. remains at a level that the U.S. has never seen. About 30,000 migrants crossed the border over the past three days, overwhelming holding facilities. As of early Friday morning, the Border Patrol was holding more than 24,000 migrants, according to data obtained by The Times, in facilities meant to hold a maximum of about 18,000. “I have never seen it this full,” one shelter worker said.
To quell the surge, the Biden administration said that anyone crossing the border without an official appointment would be assumed to be ineligible for asylum. “The border is not open,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, said.
The strain on the border is taking a toll on migrants, who now face yearslong waits before court dates and possible danger if deported to Mexico. Migrants who try to cross the border multiple times now face sharper penalties.Voters will decide Turkey’s future
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will face the toughest challenge of his two decades as Turkey’s premier politician in elections on Sunday. A win for Erdogan could allow him to further extend his power. A loss — which polls suggest is likely — would be an enormous sea change for Turkey, which some analysts say has been pushed toward autocracy under Erdogan’s rule.
Erdogan’s opponents have accused him of allowing the economy to slip into crisis and of mismanaging the response to a devastating earthquake in February. But he still remains popular among religious conservatives.
