COVID-19 in migrating people at the US-Mexico border during Title 42 immigration restrictions.
10 affiliations
- 1Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- 3Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- 4Fast Electronic Medical Record, St. Claire's Shores, Michigan, USA.
- 5University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
- 6Global Response Medicine, Naples, Florida, USA.
- 7Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
- 8The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- 9Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, Mexico City, Mexico.
- 10Case Western Reserve University Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Abstract
Introduction
In March 2020, the US government implemented the policy of 'Title 42,' which restricted entry of asylum seekers on the stated basis of COVID-19 prevention. In the subsequent years, informal settlements for displaced persons developed and increased in size near the US-Mexico border. We sought to determine the risk of COVID-19 in this setting and compare this to nearby communities at the border.Methods
We conducted an observational study of COVID-19 using data from a humanitarian relief operation at informal settlements at the US-Mexico border from March 2020 to March 2021. People who used this clinic had travelled through irregular routes of migration in Latin America. We reviewed patient characteristics, symptoms and point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 test results during the study period. We compared COVID-19 percent positivity in the camp with the surrounding communities in Mexico and Texas, USA, over 4-week periods.Results
In 6764 clinical encounters, there were 3737 SARS-CoV-2 tests completed with 482 positive results (12.9%, 95% CI 11.8% to 14.1%). Percent positivity was higher in people aged 30-39 years (16.5%) and 40-49 years (16.2%) compared with other age groups (p<0.001) and was 61.5% in pregnant women. Percent positivity was higher in asymptomatic people with suspected close contact exposures than in people with symptoms (15.2% vs 6.9%, p<0.001). Percent positivity was never higher in the camp than in the surrounding community in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and for 8 of the 13 4-week periods, not higher than in Cameron County, Texas.Conclusion
COVID-19 percent positivity was typically lower or the same in this population of migrating people as in the surrounding communities, which provides further evidence against the use of pandemic-era immigration restrictions through Title 42.
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BibTeX
@article{mohareb2026covid19,
title = {{COVID-19 in migrating people at the US-Mexico border during Title 42 immigration restrictions.}},
author = {Amir M Mohareb and Sarah Draugelis and Samuel Bishop and Andrea Leiner and Mackenzie G Cater and Ramya Kumar and Carlos Franco-Paredes and George A Yendewa},
journal = {BMJ public health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1136/bmjph-2025-003358},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42920952},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - COVID-19 in migrating people at the US-Mexico border during Title 42 immigration restrictions.
AU - Amir M Mohareb
AU - Sarah Draugelis
AU - Samuel Bishop
AU - Andrea Leiner
AU - Mackenzie G Cater
AU - Ramya Kumar
AU - Carlos Franco-Paredes
AU - George A Yendewa
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - BMJ public health
DO - 10.1136/bmjph-2025-003358
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42920952
AB - Introduction In March 2020, the US government implemented the policy of 'Title 42,' which restricted entry of asylum seekers on the stated basis of COVID-19 prevention. In the subsequent years, informal settlements for displaced persons developed and increased in size near the US-Mexico border. We sought to determine the risk of COVID-19 in this setting and compare this to nearby communities at the border.Methods We conducted an observational study of COVID-19 using data from a humanitarian relief operation at informal settlements at the US-Mexico border from March 2020 to March 2021. People who used this clinic had travelled through irregular routes of migration in Latin America. We reviewed patient characteristics, symptoms and point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 test results during the study period. We compared COVID-19 percent positivity in the camp with the surrounding communities in Mexico and Texas, USA, over 4-week periods.Results In 6764 clinical encounters, there were 3737 SARS-CoV-2 tests completed with 482 positive results (12.9%, 95% CI 11.8% to 14.1%). Percent positivity was higher in people aged 30-39 years (16.5%) and 40-49 years (16.2%) compared with other age groups (p<0.001) and was 61.5% in pregnant women. Percent positivity was higher in asymptomatic people with suspected close contact exposures than in people with symptoms (15.2% vs 6.9%, p<0.001). Percent positivity was never higher in the camp than in the surrounding community in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and for 8 of the 13 4-week periods, not higher than in Cameron County, Texas.Conclusion COVID-19 percent positivity was typically lower or the same in this population of migrating people as in the surrounding communities, which provides further evidence against the use of pandemic-era immigration restrictions through Title 42.
SN - 2753-4294
ER -