Border officials are reportedly being warned to prepare for the processing of more than 1,000 migrant families each day ahead of President Joe Biden’s expected plans to terminate Title 42 by the end of July, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
A senior official reportedly told Free Beacon that the administration is prepping for the policy’s termination by warning border agents to be ready for processing up to 1,200 family units each day. Former President Donald Trump implemented Title 42 to expel migrants from the country during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The official reportedly told the outlet that once the migrants are released from border patrol they would be essentially free to remain in the U.S. Some immigrants skip court hearings that are sometimes not scheduled for two years after they are detained.
“Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and customs officers are stretched thin trying to protect and secure our border,” the senior official reportedly said. “Asking them to process roughly 6,000 people a week undoubtedly strain already thin resources and increase human trafficking and drug smuggling.”
Officials across several immigration agencies are now preparing for a humanitarian crisis at the border once Title 42 is rescinded, according to the report.
“All of these people will become permanent residents,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told Free Beacon. “There’s no political will from the Biden administration to deport families once they’re already admitted. The White House knows that. The end of Title 42 will result in de facto open borders.”
Agents are also reportedly worried about the new COVID-19 delta variant. They claim the Biden administration’s end to policies meant to ensure public health, like Title 42, would have grave consequences, the Free Beacon reported.
Republicans have pushed back against plans to scrap Title 42, with House Democrats blocking a Republican-led amendment in June that would prevent Biden’s administration from ending the policy. (RELATED: COVID-19 Infections Surge In Crowded Immigration Detention Centers)
Republican New Mexico Rep. Yvette Herrell said her Pause Act would protect Americans from the ongoing pandemic, according to Axios.
“Title 42 is the only major Trump-era border policy left in place under the administration. As it allows the Border Patrol to quickly expel illegal immigrants, sending them back across the border, instead of placing them in congregate facilities where outbreaks of COVID-19 and other variants are all but guaranteed,” Herrell said.
“Ending Title 42 would turn what is already a crisis into an unmitigated, uncontrollable, and undeniable catastrophe.”
Ending Title 42 would turn what is already a crisis into an unmitigated, uncontrollable, and undeniable catastrophe. https://t.co/NVEFCK6cNL
— Rep. Yvette Herrell (@RepHerrell) June 29, 2021
Under the policy, approximately 295,000 migrants were expelled from the U.S., between February and April.
But Democrats argue that the policy prevents migrants from seeking legal protection.
“No matter what President Biden does at the border, many will criticize him for it,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the immigrant advocacy group American Immigration Council said, according to Reuters. “So he should just do the right thing and take the action that respects the law and allows people to seek protection.”
Democratic Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson and more than 60 House Democrats called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to end the policy “as soon as practicable.”
last year, Trump used an obscure public health law to shut down our asylum system. I led a letter signed by 61 members of Congress calling for the Biden admin to turn the page on this ugly remnant of the Donald Trump/ Stephen Miller agenda and end so-called Title 42 expulsions. pic.twitter.com/MBXEAGeHxH
— Rep Frederica Wilson (@RepWilson) February 24, 2021
Border officials have encountered a record-breaking number of illegal immigrants at the border over the past several months, with more than 180,000 migrants caught trying to illegally enter the border in May alone, according to data from Customs and Border Protection.
The Daily Caller has reached out to the White House and DHS but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
