As immigration debate plays out, border towns want to paint a different picture

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/ [login to see] /immigration-title-42-border-towns-brownsville-texas
When a Trump-era immigration policy — known as Title 42 — expired last week, there were expectations that it would lead to an increase in the number of people coming into the U.S. through many of the country's southern border towns.

In the past several days, though, that has not been a reality. In fact, there has been an overall decrease in border crossings so far.

Rudy Flores works in downtown Brownsville, one of the southernmost cities in the United States. It sits right on the border between Texas and Mexico. Often border towns get media attention when something happens with U.S. immigration policy. He says a lot of what he hears in the media often does not match his experience.

"They are making it seem worse than it is," Flores said. "It's just calm. They are just trying to get somewhere."