1,500 Gujaratis waiting to cross into US from Mexico

The end of the pandemic-era border policy imposed by the Trump administration has rekindled hope for some 1,500 Gujaratis waiting to cross into the US from Mexico. 

Title 42, which ended last week, allowed the US to promptly deport illegal immigrants without asylum hearings, because of Covid-19.

Sources in the police and communities here told TOI that many people from the North Gujarat region are staying in tents on the US-Mexico border, along with citizens of other countries, hoping to sneak into the US and gain asylum.

The US Border Patrol had 28,717 people in custody on May 10  the day before the pandemic-related asylum restrictions expired which was double the figure from the preceding two weeks, according to a court filing.

Videos of Gujaratis in makeshift encampments on the Mexico border have gone viral now, and some people in these videos can be heard saying that more than 5,000 people from Gujarat are likely to queue up on the southern border of America to try their luck.

One piece of footage shows people put up in thatched tents propped up by the 'Trump wall'.

Title 42, which ended last week, allowed the US to promptly deport illegal immigrants without asylum hearings, because of Covid-19.