Former President Donald Trump worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue the COVID-era policy, known as Title 42, to quickly deport migrants during the pandemic to limit the spread of the virus in 2020. The decision to end Title 42 has not yet been finalized but a draft report to end the policy on May 23 has been circulating through the federal government, according to Associated Press sources.
Biden has been under fire from immigrant advocacy groups, as well as other Democrats, for not ending the policy sooner.
Biden declined to discuss his administration’s plans, telling reporters Wednesday at the White House, “We’ll have a decision on that soon.”
Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal is one of the Democrats lawmakers urging Biden to end the policy.
“It’s simple: Title 42 is cruel, xenophobic, and puts asylum seekers’ lives at risk,” Jayapal tweeted. “It’s time to end the use of this Trump-era policy and restore our country as a beacon of hope.”
However, GOP members have been extremely vocal about their opposition. They argue the southern border will be far more susceptible to illegal immigrant encounters.
Virginia Republican Representative Ben Cline said Biden is only adding fuel to the fire.
“Rather than working to fix the immigration system he broke, Biden has decided to pour fuel on the fire instead by revoking Title 42,” Cline said. “The Administration’s own DHS sounded the alarm saying this move could lead to 18,000 illegal crossings a day—6.5 million a year.”
Since March 2020, the government has used the health order to deport people seeking asylum more than 1.7 million times, meaning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expelled foreign nationals more than 1 million times attributing it to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some migrants and asylum seekers, including thousands of children, were arbitrarily sent to Mexico despite having no roots or guardians there, according to the National Immigrant Justice Center.
“For nearly two years, the Biden and Trump administrations have used the unlawful Title 42 expulsion policy to categorically deny tens of thousands of people their right to seek asylum and return them to dangerous conditions where they face kidnapping, torture, and persecution,” the National Immigration Law Center said in a statement.
The CDC extended its asylum-blocking powers for two months in late January, near the surge of the Omicron variant. The CDC’s blocking power is up for renewal this week, and officials are expected to announce as early as Friday that it would be terminated, giving border authorities a few months to prepare for the upcoming deadline.
Newsweek reached out to the Biden administration and the National Immigration Law Center for comment.
Update: 03/31/22 1:43 p.m. ET: This article was updated to remove the acronym NILC for clarity.
