Desperate and bewildered, migrants stuck at US gates as Title 42 ends

Migrants hope to get their phones charged by aid workers while they wait between the primary and secondary border fences as the United States prepares to lift COVID-19 era Title 42 restrictions that have blocked migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum since 2020, near San Diego, California, U.S., May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Hundreds of migrants from around the world seeking a better life in the United States have instead found themselves trapped in squalid conditions near the Mexican border, tantalizingly close to their destination, and desperate.

On the eve of the expiration of Title 42, the COVID-era provision blocking most asylum-seekers from seeking legal entry into the United States, hundreds of migrants have camped out at the border between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego.