The US has lifted pandemic-era curbs on immigration, but harsh policies never deterred migrants

Politicians have been saying there’s an immigration crisis at the border for decades and have been trying to fix it for nearly as long. The rules have changed many times over the years – and they are about to change again as a pandemic-era set of restrictions expired on May 11, 2023.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, immigration into the U.S. at the border with Mexico was governed by a group of federal immigration laws and regulations, collectively known as Title 8. These laws, among other things, set the terms for the rapid deportation of people who enter the country illegally or are not eligible for asylum.

In March 2020, after Covid-19 hit, President Donald Trump declared a national public health emergency. That triggered a more restrictive set of rules under a decades-old, little used set of public health regulations known as Title 42. These regulations empowered Customs and Border Protection agents to both quickly expel migrants who entered the US illegally and deny asylum seekers the right to enter the country as a way to stop the spread of Covid-19.

As the public health emergency expired on May 11, the rules for prospective immigrants are changing again. The Title 8 rules are coming back into effect – and new measures from the...

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