Cities and towns near the Mexican border braced for chaos amid an expected surge of illegal immigrants Friday after the expiration of a Trump-era rule that allowed Border Patrol officers to summarily turn back migrants.

Migrants have been massing on the Mexico side of the border for weeks, waiting for the expiration of Title 42, which allowed them to be turned away based on COVID concerns.

With the rule sunsetting at midnight, states on or near the border were expecting a human flood.

See Also:

The ghosts of California’s most utopian experiments live in the remains of communes

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott ordered razor wire and hundreds of National Guard officers deployed along its 1,254-mile border with Mexico. Arizona, New Mexico, and California were also braced for a surge.

“We’re witnessing an absolute travesty unfolding on our southern border,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted. “It’s nothing less than an invasion!”

Read more: Daily Wire