What Will Happen After Title 42 Expiration?
A border patrol agent talks to a group of migrants before processing them after they crossed the US-Mexico border on November 11, 2022.
InternationalIndiaAfricaOleg BurunovWhite House officials have already made internal projections that migrant arrivals to the US southern border could spike to between 10,000 and 13,000 per day after the expiration of Title 42.The Biden administration is launching migrant processing centers in Latin America and deploying 1,500 additional troops to the border in an anticipation of the Trump-era Title 42 policy ending on May 11. So what is Title 42 all about, and why is Washington so worried? Sputnik explores.
What is Title 42?
Title 42 dates back to July 1, 1944, when a law known as the Public Health Service Act was passed in the US. The document, in particular, granted federal authorities the power to deny entry of people and products into the country to limit the spread of a communicable disease.At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the Trump administration invoked the Title 42 statute with the stated intent of preventing the virus from spreading in the US.The measure served as a tool to deter the influx of asylum seekers entering the US, especially on the country’s southern border. The policy gave US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the authority to immediately deny entry to undocumented migrants at the southern border as part of an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. The Biden administration continued to use Title 42 expulsions as a method of border control.
How Many Migrants Were Expelled?
Since the beginning of the Title 42 policy, the Border Patrol has expelled migrants nearly 2.8 million times, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).Given that Title 42 allows for quick returns without repercussions, multiple crossings by migrants surged after the order went into effect.
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When Will This Policy Wrap Up?
The Title 42 policy stipulates that it may be lifted when the “public health emergency” is officially over or “the CDC Director determines that the danger of further introduction of COVID-19 into the United States has declined such that continuation of the order is no longer necessary to protect public health.”The Biden administration previously tried lifting Title 42 via such a CDC order, which resulted in the lawsuit lodged by Republican states. The White House finally decided to end the policy by letting the COVID-related public health emergency declaration expire on May 11.The CDC officially rescinded the policy in April 2022, saying it was “no longer necessary” after “considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19.”
What May Happen After Title 42 Expires?
It’s hard to say for sure, but at least in the short term, the White House is bracing for a significant surge in migration.Already, border authorities have recorded considerable increases in illegal crossings, with Border Patrol officials registering about 7,000 crossings a day compared with 4,000 or 5,000 this winter.Top CBP official Troy Miller, for his part, told Congress that his agency is preparing for more than 10,000 migrants to cross the border each day after the expiry of Title 42 – more than double the daily average in March.
