cooperate. >> we are committed to working collaboratively with both committees. but we also have to balance sources and methods and ongoing investigations and we will continue to work through the accommodation process. >> senator dianne feinstein shows up a little late to work and she says she's back because? >> i felt better. >> you felt better. >> today the 89-year-old democrat attending a judiciary committee meeting after her nearly three-month absence to recover from shingles. also today the environmental protection agency announcing strict new rules to slash pollution from coal and natural gas power plants. emissions from these plants generate over half the nation's electricity, considered a root cause of the climate crisis. thanks for your time on "inside politics." we'll see you tomorrow. "cnn news central" starts right now.

the final hours of title 42 and the border crisis could get even worse. desperate migrants lining streets. thousands have already crossed the border. tens of thousands ready to try to follow them. end of an era as the covid public health emergency wraps today, more than three years after life drastically changed for all of us. what does it mean for you, your family and your job? we'll dig into the new reality for post-pandemic america. plus, a long-awaited extradition. joran van der sloot, one of the last people to see natalee holloway alive will soon be on u.s. soil as her family is still hoping for answers nearly 18 years after she disappeared. we're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to "cnn news central."

any minute now we will hear from america's top homeland security official on the critical change that will take effect in less than 11 hours. the lapse of title 42. that policy that allowed the u.s. to expel migrants based on pandemic concerns immediately expires just before midnight tonight. communities along the border have already been seeing a surge of people hoping to enter the u.s. one mexican border official said the situation is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis. the governor of texas sent national guard troops to help secure the border. here's some -- here's how some sheriffs in arizona are describing the situation. >> just this morning sheriff wilmoff from the yuma sector sent a message to the rest of the sheriffs. they had 800 people in custody already. and i think this was by 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning this morning. with another 400 people standing on the other side of the wall waiting to come across. we are seeing exorbitant numbers coming in. >> cnn's rosa flores, she's been

following the situation for a long time in el paso, texas. and rosa, we have seen some changes put into effect, more aggressive arrest policy for folks already across the border setting higher standards for these applications to be approved and sending a lot of people back to mexico. i just wonder as you're there are you seeing any of this making a difference or is the flood really coming? >> reporter: you know, jim, i was able to go on an overnight embed with the texas national guard, and that's how we were able to get access to some of the migrants who are beyond the wall that you see behind me. and from talking to them i can tell you that there is a lot of confusion really. and i've seen this in interviews on both sides of the border with immigration. as you know, immigration policy is very complicated. some of the migrants i talked to didn't even know title 42 was expiring. they didn't know about title 42 at all. most of the decisions that

they're making to come to the united states, the people i was able to talk to overnight, is just because the situations in their countries are impossible. that's how they described it. they described conditions in which they can't live, they can't eat, and so they make this dangerous journey risking their lives and enduring conditions for a better life in the united states. now, officials here in the united states are bracing for what this will look like once title 42 lifts at 11:59 tonight. there are estimates from the government but as of right now the federal government is encountering about 10,000 migrants along the u.s.-mexico border. in el paso we have live drone footage of an area that you'll be very familiar with because we've been there for more than a week now. and this is a church, a shelter that a lot of the migrants have been going to. you can see that the streets are now clear because a lot of those

migrants turned themselves in. from talking to the border patrol chief of the sector here in el paso he says that more than 900 migrants turned themselves in to immigration authorities during a two-day enforcement action there where federal agents walked around with flyers and then also verbally asked migrants to turn themselves in to immigration authorities. so jim, what's going to happen once title 42 lifts, you know, no one really knows but the federal government has surged resources all along the u.s.-mexico border. they have been preparing for this for more than a year. and now it appears at this time it actually will lift. >> rosa flores on the u.s. side of the border in el paso. let's go to the other side of the border where our david culver is. and david, i wonder -- you heard rosa there speaking about how much confusion there is and frankly disinformation, much of it coming from smugglers. what do people on that side of the border in ciudad juarez,

what do they tell you? what do they know? what are their plans? >> reporter: certainly that confusion is felt amongst most of the migrants we've spoken with, jim. it's interesting because rosa is literally on the other side of that wall you see behind me. what she had access to was with those migrants here you can see hundreds if not more than 1,000 camped out, some for hours, some for days, some for weeks with really limited access to food and water because they then have to go through this barbed wire that's been put up by the texas national guard to try to go back and forth and yet still wait to be processed. but it's interesting watching some of the change in activity. if we can just pan over here we're starting to see more come across. this has been a steady flow. you asked the question are we about to see the flood. i think we're in the midst of the flood. it's a flood that's been going on for weeks if not months. so if you're expecting a big tidal wave i don't think we're going to see that so much as just pulsating waves that will continue to hit. and i have to echo what rosa said, and that is a lot of these folks are not basing their

decision to go over to that side, which by the way is already crossing illegally even though they haven't gone through the border wall and been processed, they're not basing it on when title 42 is going to end. in november and december we saw this when they thought it was going to end, the deadline was extended both times here we are in may and these folks have been planning their trekds now for weeks and months and they say it's on their own schedule, it's very individualized and to that point i want to show you some of the images we gathered good nearer to the city center and that's where hundreds of migrants are camped out along sidewalks and they're spending their mornings on their cell phones because that's when the cbp-1 app which was just updated again in the past 24 hours to allow migrants the chance to try to register for an asylum officer interview and try to get their case for asylum heard, they spend all this time trying to get access to it. and most folks we spoke with were unable to get that access. and we caught up with them as they were in the midst of trying, not wanting to look away from their phones. >> that's the part of the

process important to remind people, that there is a process, to apply. under current u.s. law for an asylum interview. trouble is a lot of people want to. david culver in ciudad juarez right across the border in mexico, thanks so much. boris. >> let's dig deeper now with an official who is dealing with the influx of migrants. an el paso city representative, councilwoman isabel salcedo. thank you for being with us today. you've obviously heard the reports of upwards of 150,000 migrants waiting for the expiration of title 42 to cross into communities just like yours. what does that mean for your city? >> first i want to say thank you so much. good morning, boris. for having me here. you know, hearing this, basically what we have been hearing for a very long time, we're just basically picking up from what happened last year and it's basically we're getting ready to start mitigating this crisis. >> councilwoman, what's your

message to those who have been waiting across the border and are eager to get into the united states? even the mayor of your city of el paso saying that many of them are misinformed and misguided. what's your message to them? >> absolutely. i actually went across the border. in talking to them there's a lot of misinformation and it's very important for us to inform them of what their rights are. you know, as they come they're going to seek asylum. it's a legal process. and as a community of el paso we're going to try and do our best to be able to mitigate and do the best process as they're coming here tired, we're making sure that the migrants are safe, we're making sure that el pasons are safe. >> and councilwoman, what is your message to the federal government, to president biden, to lawmakers about the situation that you're dealing with? what do you want them to know? are they missing something about the situation on the ground there?

>> yeah, they are missing something, absolutely. they all need to work together. there needs to be comprehensive immigration reform. it's long overdue. cities like mine that are border cities, we then have to take over and really it's really taxed us. it's really hard for us to deploy and really execute the way that we should be executing. so it's important. this is just not sustainable. we need a solution. i really urge -- i urge congress, senators to really work on something. it might not be a perfect immigration reform, but as long as we can get something to aid communities like mine. >> and councilwoman, president biden and the white house installed some new rules limiting asylum for non-citizens trying to enter the united states in lieu of more comprehensive immigration reform which you referred to. but critics are saying that the president is going back on a campaign promise to provide asylum to people that are fleeing very desperate situations in their home countries. do you think the president is breaking a campaign promise with

these new rules? >> i think what's important here is that something needs to happen. it needs to happen now, whether it's a huge, you know, effort or it's a short-term solution. so i do urge they need to work on it. you know, not everybody's going to get what they want. but as long as it's something that's going to keep communities like ours safe, for it to be sustainable we need to look at the long term. >> councilwoman isabel salcido, thank you so much. please stand by for us from el paso, texas. at any moment we are set to hear from the secretary of the department of homeland security, alejandro mayorkas. he obviously has been making the rounds on media and putting out the message to folks that the border is not open even though we're seeing a potential big influx, brianna. >> all right. we'll be waiting for that. should happen any moment here, boris. the white house has drawn its red line. leaders in washington have about three weeks now to come up with a deal to raise the debt ceiling and to avoid a catastrophic u.s.

default. and today the president's team has relayed a key condition to house republicans, that the inflax inflation reduction act is off limits. it just so happens speaker mccarthy's plan includes major cuts to that very signature legislation by president biden. cnn's priscilla alvarez is at the white house where so much is happening today, priscilla, as we are awaiting this white house briefing under way already here. tell us more if any progress has been made when it comes to these debt ceiling negotiations. >> reporter: well, to your point, brianna, two key deadlines facing the white house right now. debt ceiling and title 42. on debt ceiling sources tell my colleague jeremy diamond that the white house officials and congressional staffers are starting to outline the contours of what a negotiation can look like. one of the first things that's off the table, that's a red line, it's the inflation reduction act. that is one of biden's more recent legislative accomplishments. but there is also some other non-starter items that they have laid out.

that includes rolling back student debt forgiveness, medicaid and snap benefits. now, as far as where they're willing to negotiate, that's caps on future spending, debt ceiling increase lasting more than one year and permitting reform. now, conversations happened yesterday. they're happening again today and tomorrow we'll see that top-level meeting with president biden and congressional leadership again. now, as far as whether there's been progress or movement, kevin mccarthy, the house majority leader, said yesterday that he did see a difference but again, those conversations are ongoing today. and when also asked about this president biden said that he has had years of negotiating in his past and that sometimes negotiations and deals are reached in the last minute or sometimes they take time. so both still dug in on their positions here. but what we know from the staff-level talks, again, because of sources telling my colleague jeremy diamond is that they are starting to at least outline where they could find some middle ground. brianna. >> looks like the incentive here is to fight until the very end.

so we may expect them to run this clock out. priscilla alvarez at the white house, thank you very much. jim? coming up next, my new reporting this morning on what could be a real game changer for ukraine. the uk has now delivered cruise missiles with a long-range strike capability. all this before a highly anticipated ukrainian counteroffensive. plus the u.s. officially ends its covid-19 public health emergency just before midnight. is the threat over? and he was one of the last people to see natalee holloway alive. now 18 years later joran van der sloot will be extradited to the u.s. we're going to bring you those new details when "cnn news central" returns.

i want to be very clear. our borders are not open. people who cross our border unlawfully and without a legal basis to remain will be promptly processed and removed. an individual who is removed under title 8 is subject to at least a five-year ban on re-entry into the united states and can face criminal prosecution if they attempt to cross again. smugglers have been long hard at work spreading false information that the border will be open.

they are lying. to people who are thinking of making the journey to our southern border know this. smugglers care only about profits, not people. do not risk your life and your life savings only to be removed from the united states if and when you arrive here. our approach to build lawful, safe and orderly pathways for people to come to the united states and to impose tougher consequences on those who choose not to use those pathways works. president biden has led the largest expansion of lawful pathways in decades. people from cuba, haiti, venezuela and nicaragua have arrived through lawfully available pathways, and we reduced border encounters from these groups by 90% between december of last year and march

of this year. we are launching new and expanded family reunification parole processes for nationals of colombia, cuba, el salvador, guatemala, haiti and honduras and are increasing use of the cbp-1 mobile app for individuals to schedule appointments at our ports of entry. to those who do not use our available lawful pathways, we will deliver tougher consequences using our immigration law authorities. the new rule finalized yesterday presumes that those that do not use lawful pathways to enter the united states are ineligible for asylum. it allows us, the united states, to remove individuals who do not establish a reasonable fear of persecution. we announced that eligible families will be placed in expedited removal proceedings and those that receive a final negative credible fear

determination will generally be removed within 30 days of being placed in those proceedings. we began planning in 202 1 for the end of title 42. just a few highlights. in addition to securing the first increase in border patrol agent hiring in more than a decade, we are in the process of surging personnel to the border including over 1,400 dhs personnel, 1,000 processing coordinators and an additional 1,500 department of defense personnel. we are delivering tougher consequences for unlawful entry. during the first half of this fiscal year we returned, removed and expelled more than 665,000 people. we are conducting dozens of removal flights each week, and we continue to increase them. just yesterday we worked with the mexican government to expel nearly 1,000 venezuelans who did

not take advantage of our available lawful pathways to enter the united states. we are bolstering the capacity of local governments and ngos. last week we announced the distribution of an additional $332 million to support communities along the southern border and in the interior of our country. and we are going after the smugglers, leading an unprecedented law enforcement disruption campaign that has led to the arrests of more than 10,000 smugglers who mislead and profit from vulnerable migrants. the united states is also working closely with regional partners to impose stiffer consequences at our border, expand lawful pathways for orderly migration and coordinate enforcement efforts. this includes mexico announcing for the first time ever that they will accept the returns under title 8 authorities of nationals of cuba, haiti,

nicaragua and venezuela so that we can continue the parole processes that have been so successful in reducing migration from those countries. it includes working with colombia and panama to launch a historic anti-smuggling campaign in the darien to target criminal networks that prey on migrants. and it includes dramatically scaling up the number of removal flights we can operate to countries throughout the hemisphere including colombia, peru, and ecuador. we are a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. we are doing everything possible to enforce those laws in a safe, orderly and humane way. we are working with countries throughout the region, addressing a regional challenge with regional solutions. we again, yet again call on

congress to pass desperately needed immigration reform and deliver the resources, clear authorities and modernized processes that we need. >> hi, secretary mayorkas. >> good afternoon. >> i have two questions. one is how do you decide which nationalities are going to be able to use the legal pathways? for example, with the venezuelans and the nicaraguans, how did you decide who is allowed to avail themselves of legal pathways and who isn't? >> yes. so what we did is we met the need with the parole programs. that was the demographic that was causing us the greatest challenge at our southern border and we tailored our parole processes accordingly. >> is it possible that those nationalities could shift as you see shifting nationalities at the border? >> so we have shifted our

programs according to the needs that we need to meet. so you'll recall perhaps that in november we developed the parole process for venezuelans. that was then the most significant challenge. we pivoted in january to not only expand the program for venezuelans but also expand it for cubans, haitians and nicaraguans so we will meet the moment. >> and then on overcrowding, if the border patrol facilities are overcrowd zpd some migrants have to be released, does that send the very message you're trying to avoid, which is that people will be released into the interior? >> i have to say two things in response. number one, we cannot overstate the extraordinary talent and heroism of the united states border patrol and the personnel of the department of homeland security that are managing through an extraordinary challenge and doing so successfully, number one. number two, it is very important

to understand that the great majority of people will be removed if they do not qualify for relief under the laws of the united states. >> thank you very much, secretary mayorkas. you talked about all the personnel that you're surging to the border. you didn't mention fema personnel. and the mayors and county judges on border towns we've poken to say that what they really need is not just fema dollars but fema personnel themselves to house and feed these migrants as your department releases them. why not send fema personnel to the border the way you would in any other emergency? >> well, the deployment of fema personnel is specific to a particular type of emergency, an emergent event. this is an ongoing challenge that quite frankly has vexed this country for decades because this country has been unable, congress has been unable to pass

immigration reform that everyone agrees and understands is desperately needed. we are working with an immigration system that was last reformed in the 1990s. migration has changed dramatically since then, and we need our laws updated. >> so are you saying that basically your hands are tied and you can't send fema personnel even if you wanted to? >> no, i'm not saying that at all. and as a matter of fact, our fema personnel are coordinating with local communities and cities across the country to provide them with the information they need. and fema is going to be playing a pivotal role in our shelter and services program that is poised to distribute $363 million to cities and communities in need of funding. >> i'm wondering about your communications with foreign countries. have you had conversations in the last couple days or so with any foreign government officials ahead of this lifting? >> so i should take a step back and say when i speak of the fact

that it is a regional challenge for which regional solutions are needed let me put a finer point on that. there are approximately 20 million displaced people throughout our hemisphere. the challenge that we are encountering at our southern border is by no means unique to the southern border of the united states. and i have learned that powerfully not only through the information and analysis that we undertake in the united states government but in our conversations with our foreign partners. just this week i spoke with the foreign secretary of panama. last week i spoke with the president of guatemala. three weeks ago i was in panama to speak with the panamanian foreign minister and the colombian foreign minister. we are engaged and of course secretary blinken is leading the diplomatic engagements.

diplomat is a key pillar of our effort. >> the question is i want to focus in on migrants from africa and the caribbean nations. nona geoffrey who has met with president biden on this and other civil rights issues says the lifting of title 42 suppresses black ai will sooum seekers who are required to ask for asylum in countries they transfer through. many of those countries are too dangerous for black migrants to request asylum. and she gives the example of the african americans who traveled to mexico. some were killed. they were thought to be haitian migrants. what do you say to that? what is -- is there an effort and what will you do to safety net or safeguard some of these black migrants who are trying to come now for asylum who are in countries or transiting through countries where they cannot ask for asylum under the laws that the biden administration has put into place? >> so let me share with you one

way in which migration has changed dramatically over the years. it is no longer the case that individuals can on their own reach the southern border of the united states. they have to place their lives and their life savings in the hands of ruthless smugglers that exploit them. and ruthlessly do so. and we have not only a security obligation but a humanitarian obligation to cut those smugglers out. and that is indeed what we are doing. and this president, president biden, that's rebuilt our refugee processing capabilities and is committed to a large number of refugee admissions to the united states. our president, president biden, has expanded lawful pathways for migrants like no other president past. and what we are doing is we are

extending an outstretched arm of humanitarian relief to reach people where they are so they do not have to place their lives in the hands of those smuggling organizations. >> the southern border is not just mexicans. it is haitians. it's africans, as we've seen, particularly with that issue with the haitians being whipped with the reins or the horses. but what is there -- >> well, let me just correct you right there because actually the investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur. >> i'm sorry. i saw it differently. they were whipped with something from the horse, reins from the horse. maybe either the video or the picture was fixed, but what i saw was totally different. i'm sorry. >> yeah, i'm going to leave you as corrected. >> what happens, again, the mexican border is not just mexicans, it's africans and haitians. what is there in place as you hear from people who are

advocates for immigrants like nona geoffrey to help those who are trying to seek asylum from places like haiti that has gangs, they can't even have an election because things are -- the atrocities there are just so great. >> so a few responses. number one, we have set up the cbp-1 app to enable people to make amoments and arrive at ports of entry safely if they qualify for exceptions under the public health authority of title 42 which of course is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. we have admitted approximately 740 people through that cbp-1 app per day. the majority of the individuals admitted have been haitian. we are expanding that cbp-1 app to reach as many as 1,000 people

a day and we are setting up regional processing centers throughout the region working very closely with countries to the south, working with colombia and others. and we expect to set up as many as 100 or more of those processing centers that will be open to people of all nationalities to obtain humanitarian relief. >> mr. secretary, thank you for being here. the president said this week that the situation on the southern border is going to be chaotic for a while. given the fact that you've had nearly two years to prepare for this moment, how can chaos be the expectation? >> well, i have said for months and months that the challenge at the border is and is going to be very difficult. and we have spoken repeatedly about the fact that that difficulty may actually only increase at this time of transition. it is going to take a period of

time for our approach to actually gain traction and show results. and i've been very clear about that. the fundamental reason, the fundamental reason why we have a challenge at our border and we've had this challenge many a time before is because we are working within the constraints of a broken, a fundamentally broken immigration system and we also are operating on resources that are far less than those that we need and that we've requested. >> some of the measures that you have been talking about to put in place, to mitigate this surge, some of those aren't even in place yet. it wasn't until two weeks ago that you announced these plans to open these regional processing centers. as far as i'm aware, they're not open yet. of the 1,500 troops that the president deployed, only 550 are actually on the ground. so given how long you have known that title 42 is ending on may 11th, why aren't all these measures already in place? >> so we have implemented measures well before those few

that you identify. our parole processes would be an example. while we deploy 1,500 additional department of defense personnel, we've had 2,500 department of defense personnel well in place already. we have surged resources of all types over months and months. not just personnel but transportation facilities. technology. additional bed space. so we have been -- >> you've done all you can at this point. >> we have done all we can with the resources that we have and within the system that we are operating under. >> i want to ask you a couple questions, mr. secretary. thanks for being here. irs if on the cbp-1 app you were speaking about migrants speaking to journalists including our reporters on the ground have indicated a series of frustrations. they say they're having trouble logging on, they're having trouble getting appointments, they're having trouble with language barriers, perhaps they speak indigenous languages or others and they're seeing technical glitches right now. so what specifically is being done to fix that right now and does that app provide false hope to these migrants coming that

will only lead to future frustration and surges like we saw from venezuelans only a matter of months ago? >> so we have seen a tremendous acceptance of the cbp-1 app. where utilizing it very effectively. as i referenced earlier in response to the reporter's prior question, that 740 people per day are reaching our port of entry. those by the way are not individuals who've only made appointments but who actually a fraction of the people who have made appointments using the cbp-1 app. it has proven successful. we have identified glitches and we've done so not unilateral ly exclusively, but also by speaking with individuals who have used the app, by speaking with migrants. here in the united states who have reached the united states as well as actually going into mexico and meeting with migrants to understand the challenges, if

i may. so we have addressed the challenges of which we are aware. the greatest challenge with respect to the cbp-1 app is not a technological challenge but rather the fact that we have many more migrants than we have the capacity to make appointments for. the greatest level of frustration is actually being able to make the appointment, not the utility of the cbp-1 app itself. that is again another example of a broken immigration system. >> i want to follow up on a foreign policy section very broadly. just quickly, the u.s. sanctioned right now on a series of foreign nation, on cuba, on venezuela, nicaragua. does the biden administration's foreign policy make this situation worse? >> so i'm going to leave that to our foreign policy specialist. but i will say this. the predicate of those principles are separate and apart from the immigration challenge that we're

confronting. >> given the time you say this is going to take and based on what you are seeing now at the southern border and beyond in mexico, i wonder if you could offer some details, paint a picture. what should americans in those border communities and beyond expect in the coming days and weeks? what's this going to look like? >> we could see very crowded, as we are now, we could see very crowded border patrol facilities. i cannot overstate the strain on our personnel and our facilities. but we know how to manage through such strain. as difficult as it will be. i have tremendous confidence and pride in our personnel. let me share with you an example of how we manage through a very difficult situation. in el paso, texas we saw individuals on the street. we engaged in a very sensitive and humane law enforcement operation to address that challenge, and we successfully have done so to the praise of

the city of el paso. >> our teams in el paso say that there are hundreds of migrants now in the open, in shelter with very limited access to food and water and bathrooms for days. why aren't they being processed? is that what we can expect? >> so we are working very closely with non-profit organizations, with community groups to really deliver a community response to the challenge. i cannot understate -- i'm sorry. i cannot overstate how much of a challenge it is going to be and how we all have to deal with it as one administration and one country. fundamentally, fundamentally, we need congress to act. >> mr. secretary, thank you for doing this. is this exclusively a challenge at the land border or are you

also seeing an increase in irregular migration by sea to florida and california by that matter. and then secondly on the regional processing centers i know that your staff has said that you'll have more announcements on exactly where those will be in the coming days, but just to echo my colleague's point did you want those to be ready ahead of the expiration of title 42 and can you give any details on exactly where these processing centers -- >> so with respect to maritime migration, a number of months ago we were experiencing pressure in the maritime environment, and we responded to that pressure with increased resources. it is incredibly perilous for individuals to take to the seas. the search and rescue operations that the united states coast guard has to undertake all too often to rescue people, those

seas are rough and the vessels that they use are extraordinarily flimsy. and we see death on the high seas. and so we post up our resources, our coast guard resources. we also activated more robustly the reunification programs that give a lawful pathway for individuals to reach a country of safety. there was a second part to that question. sorry. >> i'm sorry, michael, i'm trying to get as many people as i can. >> oh, the regional processing centers. i apologize. the regional processing centers, that's not something that the united states can set up unilaterally within a matter of weeks. this is a subject that requires a diplomacy. we rely on our foreign partners, and it takes a great deal of partnering. not only with the partners themselves but also with the international organizations that are part of the fabric of

international humanitarian relief. the united nations high commissioner for refugees. the international organization for migration and others. >> go ahead, brian. >> thank you. thank you, mr. secretary. a bus of migrants from texas arrived in front of the vice president's office this morning. vice president's house this morning. what's your response to that, to more buses of migrants being sent from texas to washington, d.c.? >> it is a both sad and tragic day when a government official uses migrants as a pawn for political purposes. >> thank you, mr. secretary, for being here. on the memo that the u.s. border patrol chief sent to chiefs last night allowing for parole releases if overcrowding becomes an issue, that's not title 8 like you said would happen. these migrants don't get an alien registration number that would be used to track them. they don't get a court date.

they're instead asked to self-report to i.c.e. within 60 days. you said at the beginning that you've prepared for this moment for almost two years. so why is part of that plan an honor system? >> well, it is not an honor system. what we -- what we do is we use the resources that we have to meet the challenges that we confront. this is a tool that has been used in the past. the vast majority of individuals will indeed be placed in expedited removal, and if they do not qualify will be removed in a matter of days if not weeks from the united states. when we encounter a volume of individuals for which you need to address in a different way, we do so. if those individuals do not honor their commitment to surrender to an immigration and customs enforcement officer to be able to be placed in

enforcement proceedings, they are a subject of our apprehension efforts. >> you said it would be a fraction of migrants this happens with. how many is a fraction when you've had almost 6 million illegal crossings under this administration? >> we last year removed, returned and expelled approximately 1.4 million individuals. that is the most in any one year. >> will you be on shaky legal ground, though, with mass releases? >> well, first of all -- >> on a case-by-case basis. >> first of all, your question has a factual predicate with which i would disagree, about mass releases, number one. but releases of individuals subject to an immigration enforcement proceedings is not something particular to this administration. >> -- basis and this would not be on a case-by-case basis. >> we -- we implement our operations in conjunction with

the department of justice, and we have confidence in the lawfulness of our actions. >> thank you. mr. secretary, are you concerned that the new asylum regulations will encourage more children to leave their families as unaccompanied kids are exempt? >> no. no, we are not. it is an obligation for us to address the needs of unaccompanied children. so we do not have that concern. and what we are driving to, what we are fundamentally driving to is to build lawful pathways so people do not have to take -- have to make those difficult decisions and they don't have to take the dangerous journey in the first place. and we are expanding lawful pathways to an unprecedented degree under the president's leadership. >> mr. secretary, just one more. what is your assessment of mexico's enforcement of the border? >> we are working very closely with the government of mexico. the president has spoken with the president of mexico as

recently as earlier this week. they have corresponded last week. and mexico is taking very important enforcement measures that we greatly appreciate and that were taken in coordination with us. >> mr. secretary, how is your administration redirecting the immigration judges to prioritize new arrivals and will that affect the backlog that's already there? >> so peter, your question, if i may, just to hit this point once again, your question speaks of an immigration court backlog that exceeds 2 million cases. what a powerful example of a broken immigration system. not only are we surging asylum officers, about 1,000 asylum officers to conduct credible fear screenings in the context of expedited removal, but the department of justice is surging immigration judges alongside us. >> steven.

>> sir, if i could ask you about -- >> sorry, peter. >> the title 8 enforcement you're talking about you're trying to send a message, critics of the administration would argue this is a message you could and probably should have said earlier on in the administration. can you walk us through the deliberation? how did you arrive at the idea that there should be a presumption of ineligibility and why was that policy not announced earlier? >> so in response to your precise question, we sought to end title 42, the public health authority, earlier. we sought to roll out our immigration enforcement authorities under title 8 of the united states code earlier. we were enjoined from doing so by a court. >> specifically the asylum policy, the presumption of inadmis inadmissibility, why not come out with that sooner? you're trying to send that message now. >> it's not a message. we don't promulgate a regulation. we don't promulgate a law to send a message.

we promulgate a law to achieve a policy and operational outcome. and the outcome we seek to achieve through this regulation is to incentivize people to take the lawful pathways and disincentivize them to place their lives in the hands of ruthless smugglers. >> it's on the screens behind you as determinates, redirecting migrants. >> that's not a message. that's an impact on human behavior. >> i'll go to the back. >> thank you. thank you, secretary. first, have you ruled out family detention as an option? and then two, you said that you have many more migrants than you have appointments for. so is there any effort to try to expand the appointments? and do you have numbers for how many appointments are confirmed per day? >> so we are indeed expanding the use of cbp-1 app from approximately 740 arrivals at our ports of entry along the southern border to 1,000 a day.

and we are exploring what other capabilities we can add to that. and the first part of your question was family detention. this administration ended family detention in march of 2021. >> you're not going to bring it back at all? >> we've made it clear that families who are in immigration enforcement proceedings including in expedited removal proceedings, a more accelerated immigration enforcement process, will be on alternatives to detention. the conditions of alternatives to detention may be increased as the situation warrants. >> increased to what? >> so for example, we could place heads of household under curfews so that we are better able to monitor their activities, and i should say their compliance with our restrictions and obligations to

appear in court. >> secretary -- >> can you orient me? sorry. >> going to the back. >> mr. secretary, can you describe how you will be treating any differently migrants at the border that come from countries where you don't have close working relationships? for example, we've seen reporting of migrants coming from as far as china, russia, syria. and then my second question i'm going to try to ask peter's question in a different way with some democrats urging that president biden end sanctions on cuba and venezuela. do you support that? >> so you speak of different demographics arriving at our southern border. this speaks to the fact that the challenge of migration is not exclusive to the southern border and is in fact not exclusive to the western hemisphere. we are seeing a global displacement of people that is the greatest since at least

world war ii. the challenge of encountering individuals from countries that are -- to which it's not easy to remove people has been a long-standing challenge that our immigration laws have run into. >> so what do you do with those people actually now? people who are coming from russia and china and so on. what do you do with them? >> so we place them in immigration enforcement proceedings, and they make -- if they make a claim for relief we adjudicate those claims. and if in fact those claims are granted, then they have under our laws a basis on which to stay in the united states. if they do not, then we work with foreign governments to address the enforcement actions that we think are appropriate. >> way >> that is outside of today's discussion. >> thank you. so you're talking about congress needing to act on this.

any reaction to the immigration package that house republicans are looking to vote on today, and second question, on the processing centers was it a mistake to not have them ready to prevent a surge? >> can you repeat the second part of the question? i would say the president, president biden, presented congress with a legislative package on day one of this administration. now about 28 months ago. we are hopeful that sensible and needed legislative reform will be passed by congress and we do not concur with the bill that was presented today. >> on the processing centers specifically was it a mistake to not have them ready in time to prevent a surge? >> as i have said, the development of those processing centers is a complex undertaking that requires the work of our foreign partners and international organizations and we move very swiftly.

>> thank you, secretary. republicans repeatedly seek to paint the administration as being unable to secure the border. i wanted to ask, you dough see this as a test or possibly an opportunity, to show the american people that the administration does have the ability to manage the border under difficult circumstances? >> we view this as a challenge, a challenge that we will meet. >> may i also ask, in regards to the overcrowding in some of these difficult conditions, how long are we talking that this chaoticness will be? are we talking weeks, months, years, before things take traction and you get more of a handle on it? >> we are working as hard as we can to make sure that that time it takes is as little as possible. let me say an additional thing in response to your first question, this is a challenge, and we're going to meet this

challenge. we're going to meet it within a broken immigration system while adhering to our values. >> thank you. mr. secretary, last year there were some estimates from dhs officials putting the highest level of migrants coming across the border each day at 18,000 if title 42 is revoked. is that still the estimate or do you have a clearer number of what you're anticipating? >> so let me clarify the numbers -- the number to which you refer. those weren't predictions. it is our responsibility in the department of homeland security and across the administration to plan for different scenarios. that's what we do. and so what we developed was, in fact, different scenarios to which we plan. and so we have done so and we continue to do so. >> you know, you talked about this being a challenging

transition period, but how long do you expect a potential surge to last? are we talking weeks, months, longer? >> we have confidence in the approach that we are taking, which is to really present lawful pathways for individuals to take advantage of and to disincentivize individuals from really placing their lives in the hands of smugglers. let me share with you that the parole processes that we announced and implemented on january 5th for cubans, haitians, nicaraguaens and venezuelans are a proof point of the success of our approach. we saw a tremendous demand to access those lawful pathways, and we saw a -- over a 90% drop in the number of encounters of individuals from those four countries at our southern border and we saw that very, very quickly. >> a couple more. >> republicans have challenged you on this point on capitol hill and i wanted to give you an

opportunity to respond. you know, they point to border patrol's own numbers which show going back to october of last year there were more than a million apprehensions, but then there were more than 530,000 got aways, that's roughly the size of the city of baltimore. how can you say that the border is not open? >> so, we removed, returned, and expelled 1.4 million last year. ask those 1.4 million if they think the border is open. our apprehension rate at the border is consistent with the apprehension rate in prior years. >> in el paso -- >> we have been listening to homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas speaking from the white house discussing the end of title 42 and the current migrant crisis at the border. the secretary saying that the administration has done all it can with the resources that it has, while adhering to its

values, even though he acknowledged strain, pointing the finger at congress, saying they have not provided adequate resources to the effort to keep migrants from entering the united states, saying they're operating under a, quote, broken outdated immigration system and the secretary had a message for those 155,000 plus that are estimated to be in mexico waiting to enter the united states at the end of title 42, saying, quote, our border is not open. we're going to be right back after a quick break. stay with "cnn news center." - keep going. - we should've used behr. yeah. today let's paint. riright now, get america's most trusted paint brand at a new low price starting at $28.98. behr. only at the home depot.

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