live from washington. this is bbc news. the first day of a new era at the us—mexico border. as title 42 expires, we have reports from our correspondents in both countries, with coverage from the ground in el paso. and i'm in mexico, where the government has said it will only accept 1000 deportees each day from the us and won't be issuing migrants with any more transit visas. with new immigration rules in place, communities along the borderface an uncertain future. we ask current and former us officials whether the new system will hold. and crossing jungles and riding freight trains — one family's weeks—long journey to the border in search of a better life.

hello, i'm helena humphrey, good to have you with us. we start at the border of the united states and mexico, and concerns there will be a surge of migrants following the expiration of title a2. that's the measure put in place three years ago, it was invoked during the trump administration to slow the spread of covid—19 across the us—mexico border. in doing this, us authorities were allowed to turn away asylum seekers. while title 42 was in place, around 2.8 million people were expelled, according to us customs and border protection. but with the end of the us's health emergency, title 42 has now also officially expired. a potential surge of migrants to the us—mexico border could strain local communities and the humanitarian challenge. us officials said on friday

they "did not see a substantial increase" in migrant crossings. but many have pointed out that this is only the start of a new reality at the border, not the end. mexico's government is trying to deter migrants from making the treacherous journey, and has ordered the closure of over 30 temporary processing centres for migrants. mexico's foreign minister has also said his country will only accept a maximum of 1,000 deportees a day from the us. 0ur reporter angelica casas has more on what the expiry of title 42 means for the border. for the last three years, migrants and asylum seekers trying to reach the us have been in limbo. title 42, a covid era policy, has kept them for the most part on the mexican side of the border. but that policy has now expired, and us officials are bracing for an influx of migrants. 13,000 people coming across the border illegally every single day. so how did the us get here?

in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the centers for disease control and prevention issued an emergency public health order restricting immigration at us land borders. title 42 enabled authorities to swiftly expel migrants trying to cross into the country illegally and to block access to asylum in most cases. the policy has been used at least 2.5 million times. donald trump welcomed it as a tool to control immigration, and joe biden defended the policy for more than a year. in april 2022, the cdc sought to lift title 42, citing a diminished health risk. but that move was temporarily blocked by a court challenge until now. as title 42 ends, republicans accused president biden of allowing open borders, and they blame him for the spike in migrant arrivals. the white house says there will be strict penalties for those who cross illegally, and asylum seekers will be

screened quickly and removed if they don't qualify. what happens here at the border will determine who wins that political argument. the expiration comes as a 17—year—old migrant from honduras, who arrived to the us without a parent or guardian, died in government custody in a shelter in florida. government figures show more than 8,000 unaccompanied migrant minors are currently under the us department of health and human services�* care. with an average custody period of 29 days. the white house spoke about the tragedy this afternoon. it is sad news, it is deeply saddening to hear, and we are aware of the tragic loss and our hearts go out to the family, and it is... as ijust mentioned, being a mother and celebrating mother's day on sunday, it is very devastating news. there is a medical investigation that was opened on may 10th so i don't

want to get ahead of that. we have to let the investigation go through so any specific questions, certainly, i would have to refer you to hhs. i haven't actually spoken to the president about this so i don't have any information if he's been briefed on this, but i can say that there is a medical investigation that was open on may 10th and were just going to let that go ahead. joining me live from mexico city is our correspondent will grant, and our north america correspondent sophie long is in el paso, texas. sophie, officials haven't seen the numbers that some had warned about. but what are people where you are expecting to see in the coming days and weeks? ayeah, on a yeah, on the streets of el paso, as you can probably see behind me, it is still very quiet and very calm. the mayor of el paso today said the transition from one set of restrictions to the next seems

to have gone smoothly. but a couple of things to remember. at the moment, it isjust couple of things to remember. at the moment, it is just hours since the new restrictions came into effect, and many people who have come across the border during those hours will still be in processing centres or moving to detention centres. also, a federaljudge has blocked temporarily the biden administration's plans to release migrants who have been cleared and vetted before they have a court noticed. they were hoping to use that method to relieve some of the intense strain on the immigration system here. they won't be able to do that, certainly for the next couple of weeks. that might go some way to explaining why streets in el paso, they have been quiet for a couple of days, but in the weeks and months leading up to this, we have seen hundreds of people on the streets here. they were cleared ahead of the lifting of title 42, really to make way for the anticipated spike in the number of people coming across. we haven't yet seen

that, but people here are bracing themselves because they don't know what's going to happen in the days to come. will, so if you the us side. mexico's foreign minister has also said his country will only accept a maximum of 1,000 deportees a day from the us. how is that being received? i think it was to be expected, in a _ i think it was to be expected, in a wax _ i think it was to be expected, in a wax i_ i think it was to be expected, in a way. i don't think the mexican _ in a way. i don't think the mexican government wanted to be seen as— mexican government wanted to be seen as passive partners in all of this — seen as passive partners in all of this he _ seen as passive partners in all of this. he pointed out they had — of this. he pointed out they had only— of this. he pointed out they had only taken a maximum of 16,000 — had only taken a maximum of 16,000 a _ had only taken a maximum of 16,000 a month at the height of title 42~ — 16,000 a month at the height of title 42. saying, look, we will take _ title 42. saying, look, we will take the — title 42. saying, look, we will take the agreed 30,000 a month from _ take the agreed 30,000 a month from various countries. the specific— from various countries. the specific four countries in lethi— specific four countries in latin america agreed with the biden— latin america agreed with the biden administration as cuba, haiti, — biden administration as cuba, haiti, venezuela and nicaragua. but they— haiti, venezuela and nicaragua. but they are not going beyond that, — but they are not going beyond that, hot _ but they are not going beyond that, not going to flood the system _ that, not going to flood the system any more than it already

is. system any more than it already is and — system any more than it already is and on — system any more than it already is. and on the flip side, as we know. — is. and on the flip side, as we know. they— is. and on the flip side, as we know, they are strengthening security— know, they are strengthening security on the southern border, _ security on the southern border, and closes processing centres — border, and closes processing centres. 30 temporary processing centres being closed and no — processing centres being closed and no more transit visas being issued — and no more transit visas being issued to— and no more transit visas being issued to migrants. they had allowed _ issued to migrants. they had allowed migrants to arrive on the southern border with guatemala and calmly make their way up _ guatemala and calmly make their way up over 30 days to the us hordes — way up over 30 days to the us border. that will now be very difficult _ border. that will now be very difficult. and we have been hearing _ difficult. and we have been hearing this evening that a migrant— hearing this evening that a migrant camp on the outskirts of where — migrant camp on the outskirts of where i_ migrant camp on the outskirts of where i am in mexican city is basically being evicted. around _ is basically being evicted. around 1000 haitian migrants put on — around 1000 haitian migrants put on buses and taken to destinations, they simply don't know— destinations, they simply don't know where. the likelihood is it witi— know where. the likelihood is it will be _ know where. the likelihood is it will be the southern states and they— it will be the southern states and they will be obliged either to be — and they will be obliged either to be deported back to haiti or sent— to be deported back to haiti or sent back— to be deported back to haiti or sent back to central america. sophie. — sent back to central america. sophie, we know the biden

administration had been warning about tougher measures. speaking to the people you have on the ground there, meeting them, have they been expressing concern about that? are they worried about that? i concern about that? are they worried about that?— worried about that? i think when you _ worried about that? i think when you speak _ worried about that? i think when you speak to - worried about that? i think when you speak to people | worried about that? i think - when you speak to people here in el paso who have come across the border, and you ask them about the changes to the rules, the lifting of title 42, most of them, almost all of them, have no idea what you are talking about. i was speaking to one of the members of the humanitarian rights organisation working on both sides of the border, in el paso and in ciudad juarez as well. he said it is interesting about the messaging getting through, there is a clear message from alejandro mayorkas, who said the border is still closed. but on the other hand, you have republicans like the governor of texas, greg abbott, who said it's like the border will be open, its like lifting the restrictions is laying out a

welcome mat for illegal immigrants. they are not getting this information first hand. a lot comes by word of mouth and rumours. some of them are getting that message. so we have seen a spike in people coming across in the days leading up to the lifting of title 42, and that may have been because they thought they needed to go then. what happens is people get a very confused message. it may be very clear coming out of washington, dc, but what people here on the ground isn't necessarily that. sophie long in el paso, texas. will grant in mexico city. thanks both. well, earlier, my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to marta costanza youth, who is a principal deputy assistant secretary at the state department. marta, welcome to bbc news. thank you forjoining us. i want to start by asking you about what president biden has said. also, border patrol authorities have told the bbc, they have said that the lifting of title 42 will mean more

chaos at the border. and right now there are, of course, tens of thousands of people waiting to cross into the us. is the state department concerned about the situation at the border? thanks so much, sumi. so, obviously, we are concerned with the situation at the border. however, we've known for some time title 42 would be lifted. and so the state department really has been focused on a plan to work with the region, throughout the region, on a series of initiatives to help decongest the border and to help provide people protection in the region and along the way. so let's talk about some of those policies that were unveiled by the biden administration that work, as you said, with the region. and the biden administration's new asylum policies are, of course, predicated upon working with countries where some of these processing centres are going to be

are you confident that these centers in working with these countries is going to work effectively? so, we have been working with many countries in the region for many years in working to build a network of protection, of international protection. and so part of this is many of the countries in the region, even at five years ago, didn't have strong asylum systems. and over the course of the past decade, but especially the last five years, many of the countries in the region now have options for protection along the way. so mexico has a very strong asylum system. guatemala has a nascent asylum system. and we have worked to really complement the efforts of these host countries in the region so that people have options to stay close to home. so if they want to return home, but also to be in neighbouring countries nearby. and so there have been at least... there are 20,000 people in

the region who are displaced, but many of them have found a perch. so, marta, are these centres, when are they going to be ready? so we are working on a roll—out of these centres. just, i think, yesterday we... 0ur international organisation partners launched a web page called movilidadsegura.org and that has some basic information about some of the processes and some of the options that will be available in these centres. we are really working with a number of countries in the region and with our international organisation partners, so that once we have this platform set up, so that people can make appointments, we can start rolling out the movement of people into these centres. and one of the main things that we would like people to do is to be assessed for refugee resettlement in the us.

what are migrants saying along the way? because some of the migrants we've been speaking to, rather, at the bbc, have said they want to head directly to the us. so are you confident that they are going to be willing to go to these centres and file these claims for asylum ? sumi, i really think people want to be in the region. they say they want to enter through the puerta grande. they want to enter the us in a way that's regular. and so if given the consequence regime that is now in place at the border, we are trying to give people options so that they can, if they really do want to come to the united states, that they access the united states through a legal pathway. i was talking to a foreign ministerfrom the region who had mentioned to me that he had taken his fourth trip, and he hadn't been foreign minister that long, to another country in the region to pick up the remains of migrants from his own country who had perished along the way.

i mean, this is tragic. and marta, final question. you know, these people are fleeing violence, poverty, oppression and making their way to the us. what can the us do in its foreign policy to address some of these push factors that are causing these record numbers? well, i will say sumi that's a great question. since the beginning of the administration, we have been really looking very closely at all of this. and there has long been a root causes strategy in the region. and this administration has really expanded on that and has been focused on really addressing some root causes. but the other piece of this is regional responsibility sharing on migration management. and so, if you'll recall, injune of 2022, there was a summit of the americas, and president biden stood beside 20 other leaders from the region, and they endorsed the los angeles declaration on migration and protection.

and that really was focused on how we together as a region can confront some of the challenges with regards to irregular migration. we have changed the narrative in the region and we have such great partners in the region, who are really working to offer stabilisation and protection and options for people throughout the region so they're not forced to move, and to move irregularly. marta, thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. thanks so much, sumi. state department principal deputy assistant secretary marta costanzo youth there. sumi somaskanda also got the reaction of janet napolitano, former us secretary of homeland security under the 0bama administration. secretary napolitano, very good to have you on the programme. president biden said, and border patrol authorities have told the bbc, that the lifting of title 42 will mean more chaos at the border. right now, there are tens of thousands of people waiting to come into the us

from mexico. how concerned do you think the public should be on the security of the border? i think border security has been important. it was important to the 0bama administration and important to the biden administration. you need to think of the border in a couple of different ways. one, what is happening now is that, with the lifting of title 42, the consequences for someone crossing illegally into the country will actually be more severe. they will be put into what's called expedited removal, under another portion of the us code title 8, which would ban them from reapplying to enter the united states for five years at a minimum. so, that's number one. number two, the administration has coupled that with increasing the lawful pathways for people to cross into the united states lawfully. they've increased the number

of visas that will be awarded particularly to individuals from venezuela, nicaragua, haiti and cuba. and numberthree, ithink an enormous amount of effort has gone into working with local communities and nonprofit organisations to make sure that those who do come across, who are making an application for refugee status, for asylum status, are entitled to have a very prompt hearing on that. and a place to stay while they are here. secretary, those are the measures in place, of course, but even before title 42 expired there were a record number of crossings into the us. authorities are saying they are expecting a massive people to cross — what should the biden administration do in lieu of action from congress if the numbers rise again despite those measures?

it's a logistical challenge and a humanitarian challenge and it's a legal challenge. part of it is staffing and part of it is moving resources such as moving personnel from the department of defence down toward the border. it is working very closely with governors along the border. it's working closely with nonprofit organisations along the border. it is not one department of the federal government, it is an all of government approach. the number one thing, i think, needs to be done now is to communicate to those who are waiting to try to cross correct information about how they can cross legally. how they can make an application. because so much misinformation is being shared by the so—called coyotes, the smugglers along the border. 0ur correspondents reporting on both sides of the border say

the vast majority of migrants don't understand the rules and are trying to cross anyways and we see records of 10,000 migrants daily crossing into the us. the homeland secretary mayorkas said the border is closed but is the border actually secure right now? the border is operational and as secure as it can be. more and more resources are being placed at the border. but the message needs to go out that there are lawful ways to cross and unlawful ways to cross. if you try to cross unlawfully, the consequences will be more severe. so, kirsten sinema did speak to the bbc earlier. i want to play a clip of what she said. i heard from the yuma border patrol sector chief that the increase in her traffic was 40% increase from this week last week. but today i heard that they're over 200% increase. in fact, the us marshals were announced to be deployed to yuma this morning to help with processing.

why would anyone wait until today to make that decision? they knew that was coming and it's too late. so, secretary, she is talking about yuma county on the border there. did the biden administration falter in the run—up to title 42 expiring? no, i don't think so. i know senator sinema very well and i don't want to get into a tit—for—tat with her. i think the key now is that the situation is what it is. i think we can anticipate that there will be an increase, perhaps, for a while. how long and how much is hard to tell. immigration patterns change over time, all the time. you have to be able to evolve and adjust to the situation as it's occurring. janet napolitano, former us secretary of homeland security under the 0bama administration, speaking to my colleague sumi somaskanda, who also spoke with dr victor trevino. he's the mayor of the city

of laredo, in southern texas located on the us—mexico border. you have said before that the expiration of title 42 would lead to an influx of migrants. what are you seeing today? thank you for having me. the process over the last few days where i issued a declaration of disaster have been utilised. at this point, these are holding up. the city ngos and our mexican counterparts across from us are working to get through this. laredo continues to be one of the safest cities in regard to border crossing in the country. the issue would be the number of crossings from brownsville texas and el paso texas that are being overwhelmed at this point. the transfers will overwhelm us

and the other concern is we don't have a pediatric intensive care unit, and i don't want to see any child get gravely ill and not be able to treat them. they take this long journey and some children may need medical care, so at this point we are boarded up like if a hurricane is coming, and our main challenge is to make sure we balance the resources of our community and the humanitarian aid that these migrants need. at the end of the day, this has always been a federal programme for decades and now it does become a problem for border communities like ours. new asylum rules are in place. if migrants are going to be transferred to the reader

transferred to laredo we can see the next few days that title 42 expired, we expired notjust because it expired immediately we have any immediate overfill in the next following days. these measures that the government is doing is good but they should have been done a long time ago dr victor trevino, mayor of the city of laredo in southern texas, thank you for they a time to speak with us tonight. thanks for having me. roxana and her husband made the decision to leave venezuela last month because there were no employment opportunities. hearing news that title 42 would soon end compelled them even more. roxana spoke to the bbc about her experience immigrating with her children.

stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there. we had big contrasts in weather on friday. west was best in terms of sunshine, so blue skies like these were pretty widespread. and in cardiff we had the warmest weather in the uk with temperatures reaching 20 celsius. but east scotland and most of england were stuck under this area of cloud, a blanket of cloud, if you like. not that it was much of a blanket — around the north york moors, in fylingdales, temperatures only got to 8 celsius. and with the north—easter, i'm sure that felt more like wintertime. now, where we did see those temperatures struggle across eastern areas, eventually over the weekend, we should see some sunshine break out and that will lift temperatures quite widely into the high teens to low 20s. so eventually, it will get warmer. before we get there, though, we have this pesky low cloud with us again — most of england, east wales, eastern areas of scotland thick enough for an odd spit of rain.

and these are the kind of temperatures perhaps if you're up early in the day. now, high pressure is in charge of the weather on saturday. so we are looking at dry weather conditions. the best of the early morning sunshine is likely to be across west scotland, northern ireland, wales and western england. cloudy elsewhere, but that cloud will get munched away by the may sunshine. eventually, there could be one or two areas that keep the cloud across eastern areas of england, around the east coast. same for eastern scotland. but for the majority, it's dry, it's sunny and it's getting warmer. temperatures, high teens to low 20s, perhaps reaching 22 in northern ireland. if that happens, it would be the warmest day of the year so far. not that 22 is that impressive — by this stage of the year, more often than not, we've already had warm spells with temperatures into the mid to even high 20s. so 22 this stage of may — pah! now the second half of the weekend, we do have a cold front that's going to be dropping rain and dropping the temperatures across north—western areas. so a cooler day for scotland and northern ireland with rain here, and the rain eventually

will reach north west england and across wales as well. to the east of that, well, i can't rule out an odd shower, but there will be hazy spells of sunshine and it could stay quite warm with temperatures again high teens to low 20s. cooler, though, in the northwest. that's our weather this weekend. but i want to tell you about a serious cyclone that's heading towards the bangladesh/myanmar border region. this is home to many hundreds of thousands of rohingya refugees. and the weather looks horrendous — damaging winds, huge falls of rain and a storm surge. this could have potentially devastating impacts.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. this week, we have a mix of medical marvels. go gently, it can feel that! how e—skin could give robots a sense of touch. so, just lean forward ever - so slightly.- that's good.

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