CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — On Wednesday morning, as many as a thousand people waited in freezing temperatures on the south side of a metal fence for border agents to open the gate to the United States. Two cities on opposite sides of the border — El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico — are bracing for what could be a historic level of migration later this month when the Covid ban known as Title 42 is finally lifted. But many migrants aren’t waiting for the ban to end, and another surge has already begun. CBP agents are reporting approximately 2,500 migrants crossing into El Paso per day, a number expected to rise when, absent a court-ordered stay, Title 42 ends Dec. 21. Since the Trump administration imposed Title 42 in March 2020, migrants attempting to enter the U.S. to claim asylum have been sent back to Mexico more than 2.4 million times.

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