Despite repeated warnings of large migrant caravans overwhelming U.S. border officials President Biden announced Title 42 is coming to an end in May. The Trump-era policy was implemented as the country dealt with Covid-19 but has been used by the Biden administration to expel a large number of migrants.
Fox News reports:
“After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC Director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary,” the Centers for Disease Control said in a statement.
Multiple Border Patrol officials have told Fox News that ending Title 42 would lead to what one agent described as a “surge on top of a surge” as word spreads among migrants that they will not be deported. There are also believed to be a considerable number of migrants waiting in Mexican cities waiting for Title 42 to drop.
“We are expecting to get wrecked,” one Border Patrol agent told Fox News Digital.
Border Patrol agents have expressed skepticism that they can prepare for what DHS has estimated could be potentially up to 18,000 migrants a day, even as they are already overwhelmed and overcrowded with the numbers that are already at the border.
While many Democrats and activists cheered Biden’s announcement others are concerned about the long-term effects. Moderate West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin expressed his displeasure over Biden’s decision to end the Trump-era policy.
According to The Hill:
“Today’s announcement by the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the Biden Administration is a frightening decision,” Manchin said in a statement after Biden’s announcement.
“Title 42 has been an essential tool in combatting the spread of COVID-19 and controlling the influx of migrants at our southern border. We are already facing an unprecedented increase in migrants this year, and that will only get worse if the Administration ends the Title 42 policy,” Manchin warned.
Border officials expect to break that record in 2022 — Border Patrol officers had 838,000 migrant encounters at the southern border during the first three months of the year.
“We are nowhere near prepared to deal with that influx. Until we have comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform that commits to securing our borders and providing a pathway to citizenship for qualified immigrants, Title 42 must stay in place,” he said.
