The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that it will, effective May 23, 2022, terminate its Title 42 public health Order.
The White House said Wednesday that it expects an “influx” of migrants at the border when Title 42 ends.
During a briefing, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield told reporters that they do expect a migrant surge when the order is lifted and that the administration is preparing for such a scenario.
The order was first put in place in March 2020 by the Trump administration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Border authorities have returned over 1.7 million migrants since the order began, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“This is a decision that we have long deferred to CDC, Title 42 is a public health directive, it is not an immigration or migration enforcement measure. So, the decision on when to lift Title 42, we defer to the CDC,” Bedingfield said.
“That being said, of course, we’re planning for multiple contingencies and we have every expectation that when the CDC ultimately decides it’s appropriate to lift Title 42, there will be an influx of people to the border and so we are doing a lot of work to plan for that contingency,” she added.
On Friday, Department Of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas responded in a statement, “Title 42 is not an immigration authority, but rather a public health authority used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect against the spread of communicable disease. Title 42 remains in place until May 23 and, until then, DHS will continue to expel single adults and families encountered at the Southwest border.
“Once the Title 42 Order is no longer in place, DHS will process individuals encountered at the border pursuant to Title 8, which is the standard procedure we use to place individuals in removal proceedings. Nonetheless, we know that smugglers will spread misinformation to take advantage of vulnerable migrants. Let me be clear: those unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed.
“We have put in place a comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy to manage any potential increase in the number of migrants encountered at our border. We are increasing our capacity to process new arrivals, evaluate asylum requests, and quickly remove those who do not qualify for protection. We will increase personnel and resources as needed and have already redeployed more than 600 law enforcement officers to the border. We are referring smugglers and certain border crossers for criminal prosecution. Over the next two months, we are putting in place additional, appropriate COVID-19 protocols, including ramping up our vaccination program.
“The root causes fueling irregular migration predate today’s announcement, and we have experienced increases in migration over the past decade and long before. DHS is always preparing for the ebb and flow of migration patterns. We will continue to work with countries throughout the Western Hemisphere to offer safe and legal pathways for migrants seeking protection or resettlement, streamline repatriations, address root causes, and take enforcement actions against the smuggling networks that entice migrants to take the dangerous and often deadly journey to our land borders.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to pursuing every avenue within our authority to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and stay true to our values. Yet a long-term solution can only come from comprehensive legislation that brings lasting reform to a fundamentally broken system.”
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On Wednesday, Bedingfield also stressed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is posturing itself to deal with the surge.
When asked about the surge last spring, Bedingfield said that the administration handled that situation and is prepared to do the same in spring 2022.
“Well, I think if you look back to the spring … there was an effort to move those unaccompanied minors as quickly as possible out of Border Patrol custody and into facilities that were more suited for children and we were able to dramatically reduce those numbers,” Bedingfield said. “They were in the thousands over the course of a couple of months, through the work of DHS and others and HHS, I should say, we were able to dramatically reduce those numbers, move those kids quickly out of Border Patrol custody and into the system.”
“So, I think, if you look at what we were able to do last spring, there was an ability to move those numbers and move those children quickly into facilities that were better suited for them,” she added. “Writ large, I would again point to the things that the President has done to try to rebuild what was, if you remember when we came into office, a system that was decimated by the previous administration.”
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Everything after “Let me be clear” is a lie.