Migrants amass along US-Mexico border as COVID-era restrictions near end

U.S. Border Patrol organize migrants after they gathered between primary and secondary border fences as the United States prepares to lift COVID-19 era Title 42 restrictions that have blocked migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum since 2020 near San Diego, California, U.S., May 9, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake

U.S. border agents in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday urged hundreds of migrants amassing on city streets to surrender to authorities as illegal crossings rose in the run-up to the end of COVID-19 border restrictions known as Title 42 later this week.

At the same time, migrants were gathering at different points on the Mexican side of the U.S. southern border in anticipation of crossing when border policy changes just before midnight on May 11.