The White House on Wednesday announced plans to end border restrictions keeping migrants out of the country, specifically Title 42, by May and acknowledged that the decision will bring an "influx of people to the border."
United States President Joe Biden's administration said that the planned end of the restrictions will be on May 23. Title 42 is a public health order that former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration implemented at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It allowed the rapid expulsion of migrants at the southern border, justified by health risks to the country.
Public Health Order
While White House director of communications Kate Bedingfield refused to confirm the reports, she said that the decision of lifting Title 42 was the responsibility of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The official added that the federal government was already planning multiple contingencies and said they expected an influx of people after the CDC lifts Title 42. Bedingfield added that authorities were already planning for the potential situation, noting that the Department of Homeland Security already did a briefing to walk officials through some of their plans, as per Fox News.
CDC spokeswoman Kathleen Conley said that the agency is finalizing its assessment of the public health authority. She said that officials are expected to make an announcement of a decision this week on whether they would repeal, modify, or extend Title 42.
Democrats and immigrant advocates have continuously pressured the Biden administration to end the public health authority. Critics argue that the order was never justified by science and puts migrants in harm's way.
According to CNN, data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed that there were roughly 1.7 million migrants who got sent back to Mexico or their origin country since the order was passed in March 2020. Biden's handling of the immigration issue has become one of the major issues for Democrats coming into the midterm elections.
End to Border Restrictions
In recent days, border officials have recorded about 7,000 migrants coming to the U.S. border every day. On Tuesday, Homeland Security officials said that they were preparing for an even bigger surge that numbers roughly 18,000 per day.
Whether the CDC chooses to repeal, modify, or lift the public health order, the agency would most likely face court challenges from Republican-led states, similar to what happened with Biden's immigration-related actions and decisions.
Biden advisers have long been concerned about the potential further overwhelming of the long-outdated system for processing migrants at the U.S. border. The situation also comes as officials said that federal agencies were deploying more personnel, transportation, detention facilities, and medical assistance along the border.
The Department of Homeland Security also revealed plans in official documents that it would take in response to different scenarios if a spike in illegal migration was to occur. The precautions are designed to prevent the type of humanitarian crisis that was seen in September when thousands of undocumented migrants in large groups crossed the Rio Grande and entered Del Rio, Texas, overwhelming border officials, the New York Times reported.
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