Biden: Border will be 'chaotic for a while'

More than 150,000 migrants are waiting in northern Mexico states to cross the US border once the pandemic-era Title 42 policy ends Thursday, according to the federal government.

President Joe Biden predicted on Tuesday that the US-Mexico border would be "chaotic for a while". Biden said his administration was working to make the change orderly. "But it remains to be seen," he told reporters.

Enacted by then-president Donald Trump, the policy allowed border officials to immediately turn away illegal migrants at the border.

Now governments at federal, state and city levels are scrambling to prepare for the anticipated surge of migrants once the policy expires.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Monday that he is deploying 450 National Guard troops to the southern border in anticipation of a surge of migrants.

Called the Texas Tactical Border Force, they will be deployed to El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley by Tuesday, Abbott said.

Last week, the Biden administration announced a plan to deploy 1,500 active-duty military members to the southern border this week, at the request of the Homeland Security Department.

For 90 days, military personnel will perform administrative duties and free up border patrol personnel to work in the field.

"Military personnel will not directly participate in law enforcement activities. This deployment to the border is consistent with other forms of military support to DHS(Department of Home Affairs) over many years," Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement.

In El Paso, a major border city in Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency beginning May 1.

Figure may surge

When the announcement was made, there were already more than 2,000 migrants sleeping on sidewalks near shelters in El Paso. Unconfirmed reports estimated that up to 35,000 asylum-seekers are waiting in Juarez, Mexico, which is connected to El Paso by a bridge, to cross the United States border when Title 42 expires, the El Paso Times reported.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador held an hourlong call with Biden on Tuesday, during which they discussed immigration and the need for the economic development of Latin America.

"We reaffirmed our commitment to continue working together on issues such as migration with a human dimension, drug and arms trafficking and, above all, cooperation for the well-being of the poorest peoples of our continent," Lopez Obrador tweeted afterward.

According to the Homeland Security Department, the US-Mexico border crossings have reached more than 8,000 in recent days. That number is expected to reach around 10,000 after Title 42 is lifted, reported CNN.

Last weekend, the federal government estimated that more than 150,000 migrants were waiting in northern Mexico states. That includes 60,000 in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, 35,000 in the state of Tamaulipas, and 25,000 in the state of Coahuila, according to CNN.

With Title 42 about to end, the US will deport migrants under Title 8, and migrants entering illegally are not eligible for asylum and could be barred from entering the US for at least five years or face criminal charges if they get caught crossing illegally again.

However, processing time under Title 8 would take longer, which could further strain border resources.

Beyond the southern border, some northern US cities are preparing to deal with the anticipated surge as buses with migrants started to arrive in New York City last week again after a halt for a few months, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Agencies contributed to this story.