US readies for migrant influx as Covid-era border rules lapse

The United States is girding for the arrival of thousands of migrants this week, with the expiry of pandemic-era rules that have made claiming asylum at the border all but impossible.

The country's deep divisions over immigration are expected to be laid bare as a wave of people try to get a foothold in a place founded on the promise of safety and shelter, but where a rising tide of nationalism makes the welcome uncertain.

Some migrants escaping economic and political turmoil have already arrived, frustrated by the years-long lack of a legal pathway, squeezing through the holes that pockmark the 3,100-kilometer (1,900-mile) border between the world's wealthiest country and its southern neighbor.

The Texan cities of El Paso, Brownsville and Laredo have declared a state of emergency as they struggle to cope with hundreds of people -- most from Latin America, some from China, Russia and Turkey -- who are already there.

In El Paso, people sleep on the streets, sheltering from the sun under sheets, or sleeping on cardboard. Children beg for change.

The city's mayor, Oscar Leeser, said his officials were readying for many more on Friday, judging by a recent tour of the neighboring Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez.