Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Thursday a series of steps the Biden administration is taking to prepare for the end of the Title 42 policy that expelled migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic, including establishing regional processing centers in other countries.

The processing centers will provide easier access to legal pathways for entry into the United States and expedite prescreening, they said. The facilities will be run by international organizations partnering with the federal government.

Administration officials said they are still working on the exact number of centers that will be opened but said locations in Colombia and Guatemala will be rolled out “shortly.” Canada and Spain have agreed to accept referrals from the centers, officials said.

The plan is to process 5,000 or 6,000 applicants per month initially and scale up operations over time, Mayorkas said.

“These centers will take a hugely important step to prevent people from making the dangerous journey to the border by providing a much safer legal option to migrate that they can pursue in and from their own countries,” Blinken said. “It's a new and innovative approach that does right by people who want to migrate and that enhances security and stability in the region.”

Officials said people seeking entry into the U.S. will be able to make virtual appointments through a mobile app. If the applicants are deemed eligible, a specialist will refer them to the refugee resettlement program or other legal pathways into the country, officials said.

The Homeland Security Department, meanwhile, announced an expansion of the family reunification program to cover migrants from Colombia, El Salvado, Guatemala and Honduras.

While there will be processing centers elsewhere, officials said asylum seekers from Central America, South America and Caribbean countries will be a priority. 

Title 42 was implemented during the Trump administration amid the COVID-19 pandemic. After a series of legal battles — Republicans hoped to keep the policy in place while the Biden administration fought to end it — it is set to expire May 11, which is expected to bring a surge of migrants to the border.

“Let me be clear: Our border is not open and will not be open after May 11,” Mayorkas said.

The Biden administration says it has been preparing for the end of Title 42 for more than a year, including by hiring 300 additional border patrol agents, helping countries in the region step up security to counter smuggling in the first 60 days and fighting back against disinformation, namely smugglers falsely telling people the U.S.-Mexico border is open. 

Officials said there will be “significant consequences” for those who do not use legal pathways, including an expansion of expedited removal processing, a five-year ban on reentry and potential criminal prosecutions for repeated attempts to enter the country unlawfully.

Mayorkas added that migrants who arrive at the border and do not have a legal basis to be in the country “will have made the journey, often having suffered horrific trauma and having paid their life savings to the smugglers, only to be quickly removed.” 

He said families also would be placed in proceedings for swift expulsion. He, however, insisted, “We have no plan to detain families,” adding agencies would employ alternatives such as GPS monitoring and enhanced supervision while families waited. 

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is working to expand legal pathways for migration, including by soon increasing the number of appointment slots through the CBP One app.

“For too many people in too many places, these pathways feel far from reach,” Blinken said. “So we're working to create more opportunities and to make them more accessible.”

Violence, corruption, lack of economic opportunity and extreme weather events are among the reasons people flee their home countries. 

Blinken said the U.S. also is working to stem the flow by addressing those root causes, including by coordinating private-sector investments to improve job opportunities and health care in those countries. The federal government also is supporting other nations that host refugees by helping to fund schools, health facilities and asylum centers there. 

One senior administration official said he understands the new policies might face legal challenges but added, “We are confident that we are operating within our statutory authority.”

Officials, meanwhile, called on Congress to take action. 

“We cannot do everything that we need to do until Congress provides that needed resources and reforms,” said Mayorkas, who called the U.S. immigration system “outdated and badly broken.”

The Homeland Security secretary said the Biden administration notified Congress on Thursday that it intends to reallocate money in the budget to DHS to help secure the border. The administration had requested $4.9 billion but only received $2.9 billion in the government funding bill Congress passed in December.