ATLANTA — Editor's note: The video above is about Title 42 ending and US impacts.
Organizations here in Georgia are preparing for a surge of people in the coming weeks now that a pandemic-era policy, Title 42, has expired.
The Latin American Association expects an influx of people to make their way to Georgia, many seeking asylum. The association has helped thousands of people with everything from housing to healthcare and legal assistance.
The expired rules of Title 42 have been in place since March 2020. They allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
For Carolina Ramos, the association's director of advocacy and outreach, and her staff, the past three years, while Title 42 was in place, have been busy.
"People still came, you know, they were processed and they were paroled in or they were claiming asylum," she said. "We've been able to help over 600 families since last June."
But Ramos and her staff have been preparing for months with a larger influx of arrivals expected as the policy ends.
"There's already so many people that are also already at the border that have been waiting for months at a time," she said.
They're waiting for the chance to start a new life that Jose Puerco and his family took last year.
"We've been politically persecuted from the country we're from, my wife and I," Puerco said.
He, his wife and his son came from Venezuela last July. He said the Latin American Association helped his family get food and move into an apartment.
"They really helped us with our living situation," he said. "They found somewhere for us to stay for the first month we were here and then we took it from there."
Like many others, he’s waiting to see if his asylum application will be approved. But with the end of Title 42, there are new hurdles for those coming to the U.S. being put in place.
Now anyone can be turned away if they did not seek asylum in a country they traveled to before reaching the U.S.
They can also be turned away if they do not apply online.
Ramos said the changes may create confusion, but she expects people will still try and make their way to the U.S.
"When people come to us, it's really because they're looking for stability," she said. "The last thing really on their mind is the paper that they were given when they cross the border."
Ramos said the LAA has been working closely with the city of Atlanta to receive additional funding to help new arrivals to the U.S. - but right now, she’s unsure when that money will come. She expects more people to arrive in Atlanta in the coming weeks.