WASHINGTON — Kentucky congressional representative James Comer, fresh off a trip to the Mexico border with his Republican colleagues, is calling for the Biden administration to take action to keep the Title 42 policy in place.
Title 42, the Trump-era policy that barred entry to asylum seekers because of the pandemic, will expire May 23 as health threats from the pandemic decline. But Comer, the House Oversight Committee’s top Republican, says that would be a mistake
“We went to San Diego and Arizona, and what we learned this week is that when Title 42 ends and that’s President Biden’s most recent border decision, bad border decision I might add, that they expect the number of illegals [immigrants] crossing will go up,” Comer said.
Republicans aren’t the only ones expressing concern over the expiration of Title 42. Senators Kirsten Sinema and Mark Kelly, both Democrats from Arizona, have called for the administration to put a plan in place to deal with a potential influx of migrants. The Department of Homeland Security says it is preparing for a surge of as many as 18,000 migrants per day if and when the policy is lifted.
“Now they’ve announced they are doing away with it and what border patrol agents told us is that caravans are starting to organize again in Central America and again out of Mexico City,” added Comer.
The trip by Rep. and his Republican oversight colleagues is the latest in a series of visits by Republicans to highlight the conditions at the border. Polls show those conditions are causing political problems for the democrats ahead of the November election.
But the American Immigration Council supports the decision to lift Title 42, telling Spectrum News the policy “hasn’t made the border more secure or less chaotic.”
“It’s really important to emphasize that Title 42 is not an immigration law, it is a public health authority which can only be used when the directors for the Centers of Disease Control determines that there’s ‘a serious danger of the introduction of a communicable disease into the United States,’” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Policy Counsel for the group.
Reichlin-Melnick added that the policy has encouraged repeat crossings for some migrants.
“For asylum seekers who are sent back to northern Mexico, a Title 42 expulsion simply leaves them vulnerable with no where to go, and the incentive to cross again in the hopes of safety.”
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is scheduled to speak before the House Judiciary Committee next week, where he will probably face questions on Title 42.