Title 42, the Trump-era pandemic policy that was used to expel nearly 3 million asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border without due process, was lifted Thursday just before midnight after three years of enforcement.​

Washington, May 12 (RHC)-- Title 42, the Trump-era pandemic policy that was used to expel nearly 3 million asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border without due process, was lifted Thursday just before midnight after three years of enforcement. 

Thousands of migrants have been stranded across the southern border hoping to be processed and allowed into the U.S.  But many will likely be blocked, as the Biden administration begins implementing what immigration rights advocates have denounced as another ban on the right to seek asylum under domestic and international law. 

A new policy announced this week would force the majority of asylum seekers to request refugee status in another country before reaching the U.S., or face quick deportation.  The ACLU and others are suing over the rule. 

Another directive requires asylum applicants to make their appointments on a Customs and Border Protection smartphone app that asylum applicants say is riddled with software bugs and raises serious concerns over privacy.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has detained some 28,000 migrants at its border facilities in recent days; meanwhile, the number of asylum seekers attempting to cross into the U.S. has topped 10,000 a day as people continue to flee violence, extreme poverty and the impacts of the climate crisis. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday warned migrants arriving at the border of even harsher consequences.  Mayorkas said: “If anyone arrives at our southern border after midnight tonight, they will be presumed ineligible for asylum and subject to steeper consequences for unlawful entry, including a minimum five-year ban on reentry and potential criminal prosecution.”