After more than three years with the pandemic-era policy Title 42 in place, the Biden administration is seeking to end its use. There has been a major controversy between Republicans and Democrats on whether the policy should be lifted or kept in place. So, what is Title 42, exactly, and why should the everyday American be concerned?
Initially, former President Donald Trump — in conjunction with the CDC — invoked Title 42 at the beginning of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, granting Border Patrol agents the authority to expel migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally to avoid holding migrants in crowded U.S. immigration facilities, preventing further transmission.
Before Title 42, Border Patrol handled migrants under a separate section of the U.S. Code known as Title 8, which deals with border enforcement. Under Title 8, migrants were able to seek asylum in the U.S. if they cited a credible fear of persecution or other threats in their home country.
There has already been a significant increase in migrant arrests since before the pandemic, with federal numbers showing a 22-year high. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott shared his concerns in a press conference stating that another rise in immigration would put a strain on resources.
“There is no way that local governments or the state would either be able to assimilate, to pay for, or deal with that massive migration that we would see the Biden administration planning to deal with,” Abbott mentioned.
U.S. Border Patrol Encounters at the Southwest Border: Titles 8 & 42 Updated May 20, 2022
According to an analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in August of 2022, five million illegal aliens have crossed the U.S. border since President Biden took the oval office. This includes some 900,000 “gotaways” who “eluded apprehension and have since disappeared into American communities. The number has risen significantly since then.
This flood of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S. border has already been occurring with Title 42 in place. The problem lies in unsecured borders, understaffed border patrols and an overwhelming number of immigrants crossing from all angles.
With our current administration failing to facilitate and secure America’s borders, one cannot help but wonder just how many more aliens will be crossing once Title 42 is lifted. Not to mention the detrimental percentage of illegal drugs entering our nation — fentanyl being the lethal drug killing more Americans by the day — largely through the southern border.
According to CNN reports from May 3, close to 70,000 people in the U.S. died of drug overdose involving fentanyl in 2021 – an immense increase from past years. By 2021, about two-thirds of all overdose deaths involved fentanyl.
With Title 42 expected to end this Thursday, officials are projecting migrant arrivals to the southern border spiking between 10,000 and 13,000 per day next month. We will keep you updated as this story develops. Check out our recent article on the over 90,000 immigrants having crossed the border at the brink of Title 42’s end.
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