Graphic Truth: The US Border Before, During, and After Title 42

In anticipation of Title 42’s expiration last week, President Joe Biden sent troops to the US-Mexico border to prepare for the 10,000 migrants that officials warned could start crossing the frontier daily when the pandemic-era policy expired. Fearing that the change in policy would significantly restrict access to the border, many migrants swam across dangerous rivers, scaled border walls, and waited in lines thousands of people long to turn themselves in to US border patrol.

After the policy lapsed, a record-high numbers of migrants were apprehended at the southern border. But the number dropped the following day, and the border has been quiet since. Still, there are large numbers of migrants waiting in Mexico, and the factors driving migrants to the border are not going away just because Title 42 has.