Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke has blasted Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration over plans to end the successful Title 42 border authority.
Beto broke with “border czar” Kamala Harris and the Biden admin for terminating Trump’s policy without putting a plan to deal with the influx of migrants.
“It does not make sense to end this until there is a real plan and the capacity in place to handle those and address those that come over,” O’Rourke warned.
“I have yet to hear a plan from the Biden administration to address the dynamic we will have on the border once Title 42 ends.”
Although Beto is against Title 42, he says he can’t support ending it without a plan in place.
“What it has done is produced a situation where the same person is crossing multiple times a week, and under Title 42 that Border Patrol agent simply turns that person back around, and then that person tries to cross the next day,” he said.
“They’re not arrested, not detained, there are no consequences for someone who is not following our laws when they try to come into this country, and it means that this country is not following its laws when it comes to those who are trying to make a legitimate claim for asylum.”
“Everyone is legitimately concerned about the lack of a plan,” he said.
“We should hold the federal government accountable for doing its job, and they’re not doing that.”
The administration said the rule will officially end on May 23.
Biden’s even lost Beto on Title 42 https://t.co/gWuuA7QOVZ
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) April 13, 2022
From Rollcall:
The rollback of Title 42, named after the section of health law it comes from, will likely cause a sharp increase in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border, which is already experiencing historically high numbers of border encounters with migrants.
Border agents logged more than 900,000 encounters with migrants since Oct. 1, the beginning of fiscal 2022 — roughly double the number of migrants encountered over the same time frame in fiscal 2021. More than half of those encounters resulted in a Title 42 expulsion, according to latest government data.
On Wednesday, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said the administration has “every expectation” that once Title 42 is lifted, “there will be an influx of people to the border.”
The CDC announcement comes after months of pressure from Democratic lawmakers and immigrant advocates, who said the directive barred migrants from seeking asylum and other protections under U.S. immigration law.
They also questioned the persistence of Title 42 as a public health measure when American borders have reopened to vaccinated travelers and other COVID-19 restrictions nationwide have been rolled back.
Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., said:
“Until we have comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform that commits to securing our borders and providing a pathway to citizenship for qualified immigrants, Title 42 must stay in place.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. said:
“It is hard to overstate the widespread and negative impact Title 42 has had.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1.7 million people have been expelled under Title 42 – desperate people fleeing famine, violence, and war.
“Our nation has failed these people, plain and simple. But no more.”
