Even before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday opted to keep in place a measure aimed at deterring illegal border crossings, hundreds of migrants in northern Mexico were taking matters into their own hands to slip into the US.
The contentious pandemic-era 'Title 42' measure had been due to expire on Dec. 21. Still, last-minute legal stays pitched border policy into limbo. They made a growing number of migrants decide they had little to lose by crossing anyway.
"If they don't end Title 42," he said, "we're going to keep entering illegally."
"We don't have a future in Mexico," said Cesar, a Venezuelan migrant in Tijuana, explaining why he has attempted once to creep past the border fence into the United States and plans to try again.
Arguments will be heard during February with a ruling expected by the end of June.