NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN) — Authorities in Nogales are preparing as best they can for the end of Title 42 tonight.
Here at the DeConcini Port of Entry, we have seen people in town and getting on buses who are clearly recent releases from immigration. Those are the people CBP says had appointments for consideration under Title 42—people who made those appointments well in advance.
They are not a sign that Title 42 restrictions had lifted early. CBP says when it releases asylum seekers they have the option to connect with a humanitarian group that will help them travel to approved sponsor families.
But some may be in Nogales for a time, and Nogales Police hope everything will stay friendly.
"We just don't know how they're gonna react to a new a new country, new laws. And also we don't know how our people are going to react to them being here," says Sgt. Oscar Mesta of the Nogales Police. "We're just trying to make sure there's no one no chaos or any type of violence going on within our streets."
It is not apparent exactly how things will play out when Title 42 officially lifts. There’s been a strong effort to have an orderly process by having asylum seekers make appointments on the CBP One phone app, but asylum seekers complain that app is unreliable and appointments book up in a flash.
Teh DeConcini Port of Entry is the only port in Nogales that will handle the asylum seekers, but being on the ground here, it's evident by the look at the layout that lot of what happens will be out of view for press and public alike.
Outside observers may only get glimpses of those people allowed in—and not see the people left on the other side of the border.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.