BOISE, IDAHO (CBS2) — Title 42 came to an end earlier this month, and local immigration attorneys say a big concern is the lack of immigration legal services in the state.
Chris Christensen with Christensen Legal says he's booked out until September and many immigration attorneys are seeing their work pile up.
"I'm currently under a contract to do over 80 asylum cases for Afghans that the government evacuated out of Afghanistan and that's unrelated to people who are entering at the southern border claiming a fear of persecution or who maybe come with a visa," he said.
Christensen says he's seeing more asylum seekers in need of legal services from two Latin American countries here in Idaho.
"The Peruvian trend stands out the most to me and the slight increase from Nicaragua," Christensen said.
Title 42 was used during the Covid-19 pandemic to turn asylum seekers away at the border. Christensen says in anticipation of Title 42 ending, new changes at the border will regulate the number of asylum seekers.
"So, all of these things are happening at once because I believe the government is afraid that they can't use Title 42 to turn people back, that there will be more migrants at the southern border that they have to process for asylum."
Christensen is referring to the Biden administration's regulation on who is eligible for asylum. Contrary to what is expected at the border, he says we likely won't see migrants lining up in big numbers.
"I really don't think that the end of Title 42 is going to create some international wave of people who say "Okay, now we should go to the U.S. And seek asylum," he said.
"People who are willing to make that incredibly long and very dangerous journey through unknown countries, they're coming to seek protection here cause they have no other choice."
According to CBS News, the U.S. has deported over 11,000 migrants as part of a Biden administration effort to increase deportations following the expiration of Title 42.
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