Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan ripped President Joe Biden’s administration for terminating a Trump-era policy allowing border officials to rapidly expel migrants to help control the spread of COVID-19 into the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Friday that Title 42, a Trump-era policy allowing for the quick expulsion of migrants due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, will be terminated May 23, 2022. Jordan warned Monday that the policy change may lead to the “worst border crisis” in U.S. history.
“And you don’t have to take my word for it, take the Democrat senators from Arizona,” Jordan said Monday. “They encouraged the White House not to make this move, not to end Title 42, which is the one thing that is helping us stem this unbelievable tide of illegal immigrants … This is deliberate, this is intentional. The Biden administration has abandoned the border because we’ve seen month after month, an increased number of illegal immigrants entering our country. This has to be intentional and this is a final step, it seems to me, of just a completely wide open southern border.”
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The representative cited Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data finding that over 2 million migrants were apprehended in just 14 months, equating to 8,000 per day. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly prepping for the scrapping the policy to potentially lead to up to 18,000 apprehensions per day, nearly three times the current figures.
Host Harris Faulkner pointed to the administration lifting COVID-19 protocols while asking for increased funding to handle the pandemic. (RELATED: Manchin Says Ending Title 42 Is A Really Bad Idea)
“Which is it? Do you need more money to deal with COVID or there is no COVID, we’re just going to open up the border more? One of his crazy policies we’ve seen from this administration, I think frankly the worst administration certainly in my lifetime,” Jordan continued. “It makes no sense and the American people understand it.”
Republican attorneys general for Arizona, Missouri and Louisiana filed suit Monday against the Biden administration for its decision to terminate Title 42, arguing that the move to end it violates the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), will lead to an “unprecedented surge” of migrants and will “overwhelm” law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Democratic Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema urged the White House to enact “a comprehensive plan that ensures a secure, orderly, and humane process at the border” before lifting Title 42 in a March 24 letter. Other Democrats, including Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, expressed opposition to lifting the Trump-era policy.
Migrant apprehension numbers have nearly doubled since Biden assumed office in January 2021. Border Patrol agents also encountered 164,973 migrants along the Southwest border in February, a 7% increase from January, according to CBP data.
