By Laura Gottesdiener

MONTERREY (Mexico) – Monday marked the end of a policy that prevented thousands of immigrants from seeking asylum in America for many years, a policy which was largely responsible for their long wait in northern Mexico.

    Instead, May 23 marked the latest setback for many migrants, after a federal judge in Louisiana blocked U.S. authorities from lifting the sweeping policy, known as Title 42, which since March 2020 has empowered U.S. agents to quickly turn back over a million migrants to Mexico and other countries.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that it was necessary to reduce the spread and severity of the coronavirus within crowded borders.

Max Alexander Gonter (24 years old) said that they initially said they would open Mexico’s border for asylum applications, but then said otherwise. He had spent almost two decades waiting to be granted asylum in Mexico after fleeing violence and poverty in Honduras.

He said “I cannot stand this anymore,” standing in front of a Monterrey refugee for migrants on Sunday.

U.S. president Joe Biden (a Democrat) was elected in January 2021. His promise to end Donald Trump’s harsh immigration policies has been broken, and he so far has not kept his campaign promises.

    The continuation of Title 42 is the latest flip-flop in policy that has dismayed migrants.

Remain in Mexico was another Trump-era program. This forced asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases were pending in U.S. courtrooms. Biden ended it early during his presidency. However, a court ruling on August 2021 restored the program.

Pablo is a Mexican immigrant, who refused to reveal his last name because of security concerns. He said that he ran from his town under the control of his cartel in the bloody state Tamaulipas, to avoid being forced into drug trafficking.

His forearms were and his back showed the scarring from Mexico’s violence that he hoped to flee.

“I simply want to have a peaceful, normal life,” he stated.