What is the U.S. 'Title 42' immigration policy and why is it expanding?

FILE PHOTO: Asylum-seeking migrants, mostly from Venezuela, walk near the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, September 17, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

The United States announced on Thursday it will extend COVID-19 pandemic-era restrictions, known as Title 42, to expel migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico, a move would block more nationalities from seeking asylum in the United States.

At the same time, the White House said it would open more legal pathways for migrants from those nations to apply to enter the country from abroad.