Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has slammed President Joe Biden after his administration’s decision to end policies at the border to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The Biden admin and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided to end the Title 42 policy on May 23, 2022.
Manchin called the move a “frightening decision.”
“Today’s announcement by the CDC and the Biden Administration is a frightening decision,” the senator warned.
“Title 42 has been an essential tool in combatting the spread of COVID-19 and controlling the influx of migrants at our southern border.
“We are already facing an unprecedented increase in migrants this year, and that will only get worse if the Administration ends the Title 42 policy.
“We are nowhere near prepared to deal with that influx.
“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,” he said.
Manchin warned Biden earlier: “In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, encounters with migrants reached an all-time high of 1.7 million people.
“That is four times higher than the 400,000 encounters reported the previous year, and we are on pace to set a new record again this year.
“Through the first five months of FY22, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has experienced more than 838,000 migrant encounters.
“Unfortunately, due to annual migration patterns, those numbers are only expected to increase during the upcoming spring and summer months.
“The current Order under Title 42 suspending the right to introduce certain persons into the United States has been an important tool in combatting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With encounters along our southern border surging and the highly-transmissible Omicron BA.2 subvariant emerging as the dominate strain in the United States, now is not the time to throw caution to the wind.
“I urge you to again renew this commonsense policy that has been in effect—under both Republican and Democratic Administrations—since March 2020.”
Manchin sent a letter to the CDC Director reminding them Biden can not afford another unprecedented debacle on his hands.
The letter said:
“The current Order under Title 42 suspending the right to introduce certain persons into the United States has been an important tool in combatting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With encounters along our southern border surging and the highly-transmissible Omicron BA.2 subvariant emerging as the dominate strain in the United States, now is not the time to throw caution to the wind.
“I urge you to again renew this commonsense policy that has been in effect—under both Republican and Democratic Administrations—since March 2020.
“As you are aware, in recent weeks, we have seen a steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the UK, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, and other European nations as a result of the new BA.2 subvariant.
“Asian nations are also seeing all-time highs in infection rates.
“Shanghai, for example, was recently forced to implement its most expansive lockdown policy in nearly two years.
“An analysis by the UK Health Security Agency estimates that the BA.2 subvariant is transmitted roughly 80% faster than the previous Omicron variants that spread rapidly throughout the United States last winter.
“These challenges are compounded by the recent surge in migration occurring along our southern border.
“In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, encounters with migrants reached an all-time high of 1.7 million people.
“That is four times higher than the 400,000 encounters reported the previous year, and we are on pace to set a new record again this year.
“Through the first five months of FY22, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has experienced more than 838,000 migrant encounters.
“Unfortunately, due to annual migration patterns, those numbers are only expected to increase during the upcoming spring and summer months.
“I thank you for the work you have done to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, and I again urge you to extend the current Order under Title 42 that has helped combat the spread of dangerous new COVID-19 strains within the United States,” the letter said.
