Here’s how the Biden administration has been preparing for an expected influx of migrants.

Lifting Title 42 removes a key tool the federal government has used for more than three years to reduce the number of migrants entering the United States. All told, about half of all migrants found at the border since March 2020 have been deported under the measure within minutes.

That policy will no longer be available as of Friday morning, when it is withdrawn along with the national Covid-19 emergency. But the Biden administration has built up an arsenal of strategies in recent months to help avoid a chaotic situation at the border.

They come down to a carrot-and-stick approach.

The root is to create legal routes for migrants to get to the United States, discouraging them from simply showing up at the border, and instead encouraging them to apply from their home countries.

The stick is the adoption of stricter asylum rules that make it harder to get protection in the United States for those who have crossed the border illegally.

Taken together, the measures could mean that lifting Title 42 could lead to less of an increase in migration than once expected – or that the influx could arrive early. Border crossings have already risen sharply as many migrants try to cross the border on Thursday night before the measure expires. Some have said they are concerned about tighter controls and uncertainty ahead.

A selection of the new measures:

Humanitarian Parole: People from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua can apply for this. They need a friend or family member to take financial responsibility for them and, if approved, can fly directly to the United States. Up to 360,000 people may be covered by the program this year, and 100,000 have arrived so far.

Regional centers: The government recently announced that it will set up centers throughout Latin America to screen asylum seekers for refugee status or other legal means of entry into the United States. All told, some 100 regional centers will be established, starting in Colombia and Guatemala.

Mobile phone application: The administration introduced a mobile app, CBP One, early this year that allows migrants near the Mexican border or in Mexico City to book an interview at an official port of entry. The aim was to put things in order in the migrant processing and some 80,000 people managed to get an appointment. But limited slots, relative to huge demand, coupled with technical glitches have frustrated efforts by many migrants, who have been trying for months to get an appointment.

Digital Ads: The administration has launched a digital advertising campaign in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat misinformation spread by smuggling networks, such as that access to the United States is guaranteed after Title 42 is lifted. The campaign will warn would-be migrants about the dangers of making the journey to the southern border and the consequences of entering the United States illegally.

More resources: The United States is sending 1,500 troops to the border and adding workers to do the time-consuming work of processing migrants at border guard facilities. It also increases the number of deportation flights to take people back to their home countries.

New asylum rule: Under the old system, dubbed “catch and release” by critics, many migrants who reached the United States would apply for asylum and be allowed to stay in the country until their cases were resolved by the immigration court.

The new rule from the Biden administration assumes that those who do not use legal routes to enter the United States will not be eligible for asylum when they appear at the border. Migrants at the border can only rebut this presumption if they sought asylum or protection in another country they passed through on their way to the United States and were not given a safe haven there, or if they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances, such as a medical emergency.

They can get a phone interview from a border security facility with an asylum officer and can be quickly deported if they don’t qualify for an application. Unlike Title 42, they receive a permanent marker on their criminal record barring them from entering the United States for five years and can face criminal charges.