According to early media reports, by May 23 the Biden administration will have completed a phaseout of the “Title 42” pandemic border policy, and will once again recognize threatened migrants’ legal right to ask for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. What does this mean?

This return to normal U.S. asylum law will bring an end to a policy that has placed tens of thousands of people in harm’s way in Mexican border cities.
A significant increase in migration at the border is certain in the weeks and months after Title 42’s lifting.
Of utmost importance in the initial post-Title 42 period is processing migrants at the border in an orderly and dignified way, without chaos and overcrowding. WOLA is concerned that the Department of Homeland Security has not prepared its processing capacity on time.

What happens next?

Will there were a rush of migrants at the border?

Will many migrants be released into the United States?

How should a post-Title 42 asylum system function at the border?

WOLA offers answers to these questions in our latest Q&A with Director for Defense Oversight, Adam Isacson.