President Biden Incredibly Plans To Remove A Critical Border Control Tool During A Record-Breaking Wave Of Illegal Immigration

The Biden Administration Is Planning To End Its Use Of Title 42 Authority At The Southern Border, Which Officials There Worry ‘Will Open A Floodgate Of Illegal Migration’

“The Biden administration plans to end its use of Title 42, a Trump-era pandemic border policy that allows the government to immediately turn away migrants at the southern border, by the end of May, according to a draft of the order reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and officials familiar with the matter.” (“Biden Administration to Lift Title 42 Border Policy, Officials Say,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/30/2022)

• “The Trump administration enacted Title 42 public health protections in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants, often within minutes and without detention, at the border. While officials in both administrations claimed it was a public health order, not an immigration order, it has been used by both administrations as a critical tool in stopping migration.” (“Dems Call For Biden To End Title 42 Border Protections, Despite Fears Of Looming Migrant Surge,” 3/11/2022)

‘Border Officials Have Expressed Concern That, Without The Rapid-Turnback Policy, They Will Quickly Be Overwhelmed By Migrants, Leading To Dangerous Overcrowding In Border Facilities And Releases Of People Into The U.S. Who Would Normally Be Jailed Or Deported’

“Border officials have expressed concern that, without the rapid-turnback policy, they will quickly be overwhelmed by migrants, leading to dangerous overcrowding in border facilities and releases of people into the U.S. who would normally be jailed or deported.” (“Biden Administration to Lift Title 42 Border Policy, Officials Say,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/30/2022)

• “It also raises the possibility that more asylum-seeking migrants will come to the border at a time when flows are already high. The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that about 7,100 migrants were coming daily, compared with an average of about 5,900 a day in February and on pace to match or exceed highs from last year, 2019 and other peak periods.” (“AP Sources: Asylum Limits At Border Expected To End May 23,” The Associated Press, 3/30/2022)

“There has long been concern that lifting the public health order, which gives border officials the authority to quickly expel migrants, including those seeking asylum, will open a floodgate of illegal migration.” (“Homeland Security Is Making Plans To Handle A Record Surge Of Migrants,” The New York Times, 3/29/2022)

“One senior Department of Homeland Security official said there is concern inside the agency that setting a date to lift Title 42 for over a month away will incentivize more would-be immigrants to leave their homes now in hopes of being allowed into the United States in May.” (“Biden Admin To Lift Title 42 Covid Restriction On Border In May, Officials Say,” NBC News, 3/30/2022)

‘Crossings At The Southwest Border Have Been Peaking Again In Recent Weeks, And Homeland Security Officials Are Bracing For Those Numbers To Rise Much Higher,’ Potentially As Many As 18,000 People Per Day

“Crossings at the southwest border have been peaking again in recent weeks, and homeland security officials are bracing for those numbers to rise much higher if the Biden administration decides to lift a public health order that has limited immigration during the pandemic.” (“Homeland Security Is Making Plans To Handle A Record Surge Of Migrants,” The New York Times, 3/29/2022)

• “Homeland security officials on Tuesday described contingency plans for managing as many as 18,000 encounters a day at the border, regardless of the cause. Working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, other federal agencies, and state and local officials, the department is prepared to have on standby additional personnel, transportation and medical assistance, and temporary facilities for processing migrants.” (“Homeland Security Is Making Plans To Handle A Record Surge Of Migrants,” The New York Times, 3/29/2022)

Astonishingly, The Biden Administration Is Planning To Do This Amidst Record-Breaking Numbers Of Illegal Immigrants Crossing The Southern Border

“Since October, border officials have apprehended 900,000 undocumented migrants at the southwest border, the Homeland Security Department said on Tuesday. During the 2021 fiscal year, undocumented migrants were caught a record-breaking 1.7 million times. The number of illegal crossings went up significantly after President Biden took office compared with the previous year …” (“Homeland Security Is Making Plans To Handle A Record Surge Of Migrants,” The New York Times, 3/29/2022)

• At least 150,000 illegal immigrants have been encountered at the border every month for 12 straight months. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border Encounters, Accessed 3/30/2022)

• “The number of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border illegally has jumped again in recent weeks, stretching capacity and stirring fears that the Biden administration will face an even larger influx if it lifts pandemic restrictions next week. According to preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained by The Washington Post, authorities are on pace to make more than 200,000 detentions along the Mexican border in March, the highest monthly total since August.” (“Biden Faces Influx Of Migrants At The Border Amid Calls To Lift Limits That Aided Expulsions,” The Washington Post, 3/24/2022)

“Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz on [March 29^th] said that the U.S. is currently on track to hit one million migrant encounters so far in Fiscal Year 2022 – a number that shows that continued migrant traffic is already outpacing last year's staggering numbers. ‘Probably in the next two or three days we’ll get over a million encounters or apprehensions along the southwest border,’ Ortiz said at a border security conference in San Antonio, Texas.” (“Border Patrol Chief Says US On Track To Hit 1M Migrant Encounters In 6 Months As Crisis Accelerates,” Fox News, 3/29/2022)

Yet The Administration Has Done Nothing To Prepare Facilities Or Procedures To Handle The Anticipated Flood

“[T]here has been no major changes to how migrants are processed at the U.S.-Mexico border and no increase in holding facilities for them. The immigration court backlog continues to soar to more than 1.7 million cases.” (“AP Sources: Asylum Limits At Border Expected To End May 23,” The Associated Press, 3/30/2022)

The Administration’s Decision To End Title 42 Authority Has It Once Again Putting The Preferences Of ‘Left-Wing Activists’ And Agitating Democrats Over Securing The Border

“In recent weeks, with the CDC’s deadline looming, the administration came under intense pressure from many Democrats to end the policy and restore the asylum process at the border.” (“Biden Administration to Lift Title 42 Border Policy, Officials Say,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/30/2022)

• “Homeland Security officials, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other top Democrats were increasingly vocal about wanting to end so-called Title 42 authority, named for a 1944 public health law to prevent communicable disease. Schumer called it ‘perplexing that the (CDC) continues to recommend the extended use of this draconian policy at the border, contradicting the overwhelming signs of America’s pandemic recovery under President Biden’s leadership.’ His comments were in a joint statement this month with Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Alex Padilla of California.” (“AP Sources: Asylum Limits At Border Expected To End May 23,” The Associated Press, 3/30/2022)

“Left-wing activists and some Democrats have fumed over the Biden administration’s continued implementation of the policy -- although the Biden administration has not been expelling unaccompanied children (UACs) under the policy, or many migrant families in part due to Mexico's refusal to take families with small children. In January, only 51% of all migrant encounters resulted in a Title 42 expulsion.” (“Dems Call For Biden To End Title 42 Border Protections, Despite Fears Of Looming Migrant Surge,” 3/11/2022)

FLASHBACK: Biden During The Primary Campaign: ‘I Would In Fact Make Sure… We Immediately Surge To The Border All Those People Are Seeking Asylum,’ ‘You Should Come,’ ‘Come To The United States’

JOE BIDEN: “What I would do as president is several more things because things have changed. I would in fact, make sure that there is we immediately surge to the border all those people are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard. That’s who we are. We are a nation that says if you want to flee and you’re fleeing oppression you should come.” (ABC News Democratic Presidential Debate, 9/12/2019)

JOE BIDEN: “All of the bad things are coming through ports of entry right now. We don’t need a wall and by the way I would immediately as president surge to the border. I would end this notion for the first time in history the people seeking asylum have to be in squalor on the other side of the river and--and desperate situation. They should be-- be-- come to the United States and have a judgment made as to whether or not they qualify. I would also surge to the border immigration judges to make--make decisions immediately and no one, no one would be put in jail while waiting for their hearing.” (CNN and Univision Democratic Presidential Debate, 3/15/2020)

‘And Those Who Come Seeking Asylum, We Should Immediately Have The Capacity To Absorb Them’

JOE BIDEN: “But the fact is that, look, we should not be locking people up. We should be making sure we change the circumstance, as we did, why they would leave in the first place. And those who come seeking asylum, we should immediately have the capacity to absorb them, keep them safe until they can be heard.” (NBC News Democratic Presidential Debate, 6/27/2019)