What happens when Title 42 ends and how Title 8 replaces it

El PASO, Texas — Thousands of migrants from Central and South America are pictured in Mexico on May 9, lined up by the border wall with the US at the country’s busiest border crossing.

They are all hoping for the chance to seek asylum and a better life in America and have mostly escaped poverty, crumbling political regimes and deteriorating economic conditions in their own countries.

Migrants arrived at the border in their thousands, desperate to surrender themselves to US immigration officials before the end of Title 42.

The result has seen border forces stretched to their limits and tens of thousands of people arrrested as they attempt to cross into the US and held in temporary custody.

There officials decide if they can pursue asylum claims in America or they will be ejected back to Mexico.

Here we explain how Title 42 has worked and what will happen when the measure which will replace it, Title 8, comes into effect when it expires at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 11.

What is Title 42?

Title 42 was introduced by President Donald Trump in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is officially a federal health measure enforced by the US Border Patrol which allows them to reject all migrants from the US border, including those who attempt to claim asylum.

The Trump Administration said the measure was necessary to slow the spread of the pandemic and keep federal agents encountering migrants safe.

When President Biden took over he continued to enforce Title 42 with one important change — it would only apply to citizens of certain countries.

Currently migrants who attempt to come into the US illegally are processed under Title 42 if they are from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua or Venezuela.

Those border crossers go through a screening process that allows the Border Patrol to quickly kick out them out of the US and return them to Mexico.

There is no penatly or legal consequence for being expelled from the US under Title 42 — which has led many rejected migrants to cross into the US multiple times in hopes of getting to stay.

What is Title 8?

Title 8 is an immigration law that has been around for decades and has been used alongside Title 42 during the last three years.

About 60% of all illegal immigrants who entered the US this year were subject to Title 8, according to Border Patrol statistics.

“Once Title 42 is no longer in place, we will process families and single adults at the border without proper documentation using [the Department of Homeland Security’s] long-standing Title 8 authority,” said US Customs and Border Protection [CBP] Deputy Commissioner Benjamine C. Huffman.

Migrants from all nationalities can be subject to Title 8 — which has a longer processing time and can lead to deportation, a legal process that carries penalties.

Unlike Title 42, those removed under Title 8 are usually banned from entering the US for five years and will be prosecuted if they try to enter the US again during that time.

“We’re going to do an expedited [removals] for single adults,” added Huffman. “We’re going to do as many as we can while they’re still in CBP custody.”

What New Immigration Rules Have Been Put in Place?

Border agents will lean heavily on a new immigration rule which will allow them turn away asylum-seekers at the border who do not already have an appointment for an asylum interview or have not sought asylum in a country on their way to the US.

“If you’ve left your home, you passed through a couple of other countries and did not try to make an asylum claim there…it’s called a reputable presumption,” Huffman explained. “You’re presumed to not qualify [for asylum] unless you have extraordinary circumstances.”

The Department of Homeland Security says the administration will be able to reject large numbers of migrants from the border in this way, and is also making preparations to screen migrants and start their applications to come to the US in both Guatemala and Colombia.

What Role Does Mexico Play ?

The Biden administration recently announced a landmark deal that Mexico will continue taking Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians rejected from the US post-Title 42.

“For the first time in our history, we’re going to be allowed to deport people from the United States, who are not Mexicans, back to Mexico,” Huffman said.

Mexico has agreed to take 30,000 migrants a month from each of those four countries. The US has trouble deporting many migrants to those countries because of its troubled — and in some cases non-existent — diplomatic relations with them according to a press release issued by Mexican officials.

In exchange, Washington will continue to allow 30,000 migrants a month from the same countries through the humanitarian parole program that has been created for them, which started in January. In order to qualify, migrants must apply online through the CBP One app and arrange a sponsor in the US. They are also not allowed to cross into the country illegally.

What is the CBP One App?

CBP One is a cellphone app which offers services related to several border protection processes, including application submission and appointment scheduling.

Through the app, asylum seekers can schedule appointments to appear at border crossing sites to seek permission to legally enter the US.

The Biden administration has announced it would be expanding the number of such appointments available to app users starting May 12.

However, migrants who spoke to The Post have said the app rarely works and despite months of trying to use it have not been able to schedule appointments, which prompted some to cross the border illegally and hand themselves in, as they believed they would have a better chance of being admitted to the US.

Speaking in El Paso, Maria Barrera — who crossed into the US without papers on May 9 — said: “We crossed into the US through a hole in the wall. We were looking for Border Patrol, but we didn’t see any that day. We just walked right in.

“Our plan was always to come through legally. We tried going through the CBP One app, but it never worked.”