Title 42 expiration – latest: Child migrant dies in US custody as Biden under fire over immigration policy
More than 2.8m people have been turned away from Mexico border since Title 42 was enacted during the pandemic
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An unaccompanied child migrant died while in US custody just days before Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that prevented individuals seeking asylum from entering the US on the pretext that they could pose a health risk, expired on Thursday evening.
In anticipation of the policy change, once more restoring the right to an asylum hearing, President Joe Biden enacted new immigration policies which are being harshly criticised for being too restrictive.
Under Mr Biden’s new policies, people from countries other than Mexico will have to request asylum in the country they are coming through before requesting it in the US.
Several organisations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed a lawsuit against the new immigration policies saying they mimic Trump-era ones.
Over the last three years, authorities have effectively used Title 42 as a makeshift solution to the country’s ongoing border crisis, with over 2.8m people turned away since its introduction.
With the policy’s termination, many are worried border towns will become overwhelmed with migrants. Ahead of the expiration, Texas towns El Paso and Brownsville declared an emergency.
El Paso mayor says city is ‘preparing for the unknown'
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the city was “preparing for the unknown” as the end of Title 42 looms over border cities.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Leeser said it was unclear whether there would be mainly families or single adults crossing the border but numbers would be “somewhere between five to eight to maybe 10,000 that are prepared to come.”
“Our goal is to make sure they are here between 24 to 72 hours, this is only temporary sheltering,” Mr Leeser said.
Mr Leeser said he wants to help asylum seekers because once they receive their asylum number they’re free to go wherever they want.
Marjorie Taylor Greene says US should re-elect Trump because of Title 42 ending
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted that people should re-elect former president Donald Trump for “a third time” because the Biden Administration is getting rid of Title 42.
Title 42 was a part of the CDC’s public health emergency which was enacted in March 2020 to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“Joe Biden, the man responsible for defending our country, is compromised and a threat to our national security,” Ms Greene tweeted on Wednesday.
“In just a few hours, Joe Biden will allow Title 42 to terminate and he will open the flood gates to a border crisis never before seen and never thought possible,” Ms Greene wrote.
Title 42 is ending due to the Biden administration officially ending the public health emergency.
For the last three years, Title 42 has been used as a temporary solution to the border crisis, which has existed for yeras.
Republicans, like Ms Greene, have blamed Mr Biden for allowing an influx of migrants in.
US warns migrants against illegal crossings as Title 42 set to expire: ‘Our border is not open’
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday warned migrants that the end of pandemic-era border restrictions will not enable them to enter the United States by crossing the US-Mexico border.
Mr Mayorkas appeared at the daily White House press briefing to explain the Biden administration’s preparations for the end of Title 42 – a Trump-era public health restriction which allowed most asylum seekers to be quickly turned back – and stressed that despite the end of the controversial policy, America’s borders “are not open”.
Andrew Feinberg reports:
US warns migrants against illegal crossings: ‘Our border is not open’
Title 42, a Trump-era policy which expelled most migrants under a little-used public health authority, expires at 11.59 pm
Who is allowed in the United States after Title 42 expires?
Once Title 42 ends at 11.59pm EST tonight, the US will revert back to Title 8, the former immigration legislation. But the Biden administration has enacted several new policies to ensure more people seeking asylum will have access to the US.
The US will now accept up to 30,000 people from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba per month- so long as they arrive by air, have a sponsor and apply online.
An additional 100,000 people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras will also be permitted into the US if they have family here and apply online.
An estimated 1,000 migrants, not from the named counties, will be admitted per day as well- so long as they apply through the new immigration mobile application.
VOICES: Trump’s restrictive immigration policy is ending – but his politics remain under Biden
VOICES: For Republicans, ending Title 42 has been a political boon. GOP senators largely dashed any hopes of another Covid-19 relief package last year on the basis of Mr Biden’s decision to end the policy.
Eric Garcia writes:
Trump’s restrictive immigration policy is ending – his politics remain under Biden
Biden is ending Title 42, but he’s continued or expanded Trump and Stephen Miller’s hardline immigration policies
Border holding facilities over capacity
The US Border Patrol is allegedly already over capacity by approximately 10,000 people in its holding facilities, according to internal agency data obtained by The New York Times.
US border towns like El Paso, Brownsville and Laredo are already overwhelmed by the number of migrants seeking asylum as they prepare for the end of Title 42. But tens of thousands of more people are expected to come to the border.
Despite President Biden deploying an additional 1,400 Homeland Security Department employees, the situation appears chaotic and disorganised.
The internal agency data indicated that over 11,000 migrants had crossed through the southern border illegally in the last two days.
Buses carrying migrants arrive in towns and cities across US
As the US prepares for a massive influx of migrants, some are being bussed to airports to head for other parts of the country.
At least fifteen buses carrying migrants released by Border Patrol are thought to be leaving Yuma, Arizona today - according to a migrant services group per The New York Times.
They are apparently headed for the Phoenix airport where they will continue their travels.
Another two buses of migrants from New York City were brought to the suburb of Newburgh, New York.
Several cities like Washington DC are preparing for an increase in the number of migrants.
Understanding Title 42
Under the Trump-era pandemic policy, migrants who showed up at the border seeking asylum could be turned away.
More than 2.8m people were turned away at the border- the only exemptions were families and children traveling alone.
However, if someone crossed illegally they were not detained or arrested which prompted many to attempt to cross the border illegally.
As of 11.59pm EST on 11 May, Title 42 will end and new Biden-era policies will begin under Title 8.
Migrants arrive in outside of vice president’s home in DC
A busload of approximately 30 migrants from Texas arrived in Washington DC Thursday morning, as the US prepares to receive an influx of asylum seekers.
Gary Grumbach, an NBC News reporter filmed a video of the migrants arriving near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Many on the bus told me they were from Venezuela,” Mr Grumbach tweeted
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