GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

The U.S.-Mexico border remained mostly calm today, just hours after the expiration of Title 42, the pandemic-era border restrictions that immediately expelled migrants.

AMNA NAWAZ: Homeland Security officials said there was not a -- quote -- "substantial increase" in immigration across the border today.

The Biden administration is also implementing new rules that reject asylum seekers who did not apply online or who traveled through another country.

That's being challenged in court.

But the confusion for those crossing the border remains.

Cindy Ramirez covers immigration and the border for El Paso Matters.

She joins us tonight from the border city.

Cindy, welcome.

Thanks you for joining us.

There's certainly a lot of anticipation about what it would look like when Title 42 ended.

You are there.

Tell us what it feels like, what you're actually seeing on the ground in El Paso today?

CINDY RAMIREZ, El Paso Matters: I think probably a little bit anticlimactic.

Certainly, there was a lot of unknowns and whether it would be chaotic.

But, as you noted, it was relatively calm and quiet overnight and into this morning and still remains so as of right now.

The area of the border itself, the International Bridge where the migrants were to turn themselves in if they wanted to apply for asylum starting today, everything has been relatively quiet.

AMNA NAWAZ: Still, we have been seeing some of those numbers ticking upwards.

I know border officials said some 10,000 people apprehended in -- on average over the last few days.

That is a very high number for them.

But, as it was ending, there were some journalists from Reuters who spoke with people who were crossing the border overnight.

This was in Yuma, Arizona, last night.

Here's just a little bit of what folks had to share.

IRENE YENCOH, Migrant: I feel so bad, but I have no choice.

I have no choice -- after my life.

Those people were after my life, the military people after me.

WIN, Migrant: It's been a crazy journey, though, but I think it will be better, I hope.

That's why I'm here.

I'm here with hope and faith.

LUIS JUNIOR SALAS SALAZAR, Migrant (through translator): I have come here for a future more -- a future of work and study at the same time, and also to have my own family here in American lands.

AMNA NAWAZ: Cindy, I want to point out the folks we just heard from came from Cameroon, from Ghana and from Peru.

I know you're overseeing your reporters as they talk to folks who are crossing.

Give us a sense of who is arriving at the border right now.

Where are they from?

Is it families, single adults?

CINDY RAMIREZ: The majority have been single, single adult males, mostly from Venezuela.

We have seen a good number of families, women traveling on the roads or in groups of other women.

But we do see the people from Guatemala, Honduras, some from Cuba, so a little bit of mixed, but, certainly, the majority are single men from Venezuela.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we mentioned that new asylum rule the Biden administration has introduced barring anyone from making an asylum claim if they didn't already make one in a country they passed through.

The ACLU sued overnight to block that.

Cindy, what does that mean for the standard in place at the border right now?

CINDY RAMIREZ: Well, I think, right now, what we're seeing -- what we saw last night, for example, was about 1,600 migrants across the border and turned themselves into Border Patrol in order to meet the deadline of Title 42, so that they wouldn't face tougher consequences under Title 8 if they crossed without turning themselves into Border Patrol or between points of entry.

But, certainly, what that means is that there's going to be a lot more uncertainty among the migrants who are across our border city of Juarez, and in Mexico, and trying to figure out what's next for them.

There's certainly been a lot of confusion, misinformation, and worry about all of the changing rules and laws and policies that have come into place, so certainly a lot of confusion among them and what they should do next.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, just to clarify, Title 8, of course, was the immigration standard at the border before Title 42 went into place.

We have heard from the Biden administration, from Secretary Mayorkas they have been opening up legal pathways even as they impose these other restrictions at the border.

From the folks you talk to, has anyone been able to access those legal pathways?

CINDY RAMIREZ: Very few of them have actually had a little bit of luck with the -- with the phone app, and they have been able to have -- made some appointments.

But the majority have not been able to access that.

The vast majority of the migrants that we have seen in our community had already left several countries and traveled here, sometimes six months ago, sometimes four weeks ago, when they left their home countries.

The majority also don't really have an interest and actually have a fear of remaining in Mexico.

There's been some clashes between some law enforcement and migrants in Mexico, and, as you may know as well, a deadly detention fire, a migrant detention fire in Juarez that killed 40 people.

So I think that certainly scarred a lot of people who have no interest in remaining in Mexico.

(CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: Cindy, we have just about 30 seconds or so left.

We have heard from officials there's some 65,000 people waiting in Northern Mexico potentially to cross.

You said, so far, it's crowded, but calm.

What do you expect in the days or weeks ahead?

CINDY RAMIREZ: I think the big thing for communities like El Paso is, when those migrants that have been taken into Border Patrol custody gets released into the communities, and the shelter capacity for that would become an issue.

AMNA NAWAZ: We will be tracking that as well, following your reporting.

Cindy Ramirez from El Paso Matters joining us from El Paso, Texas, tonight.

Cindy, thank you.