Biden administration will rescind Trump-era immigration policy expelling migrants at the border

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Friday announced it is rescinding as of May a Trump-era policy that made it harder for migrants to seek asylum in the United States in the name of fighting the pandemic.

The policy, called Title 42, allows U.S. border agents to expel asylum seekers to Mexico to prevent the spread of coronavirus and was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The policy will officially end on May 23. According to a statement from the CDC, the order is "no longer necessary" after "considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19."

Former President Donald Trump created the policy, known as Title 42, to protect the public health in 2020. Since coming into office, the Biden administration has embraced it under the same justification, denying critics' assertions they are using it to curb immigration.

More than 1 million individuals have been expelled using Title 42, according to statistics from DHS.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that DHS will continue to expel single adults and families encountered at the border until the health order is lifted.

Once the order is lifted, Mayorkas said that individuals will be processed under standard procedure.

“We know that smugglers will spread misinformation to take advantage of vulnerable migrants,” Mayorkas said in the statement. “Let me be clear: those unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed.”

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-El Paso) said she has been urging the administration to establish in-country asylum processing. She has also asked Homeland Security to use the planned construction of a new Central Processing Center in El Paso to create a pilot program for processing vulnerable populations using civilian personnel instead of law enforcement.

“Addressing immigration exclusively at our nation’s borders represents a failure of vision and policy," she said in a statement.

"Outdated policies and processes harm migrants and asylum-seekers, waste millions of dollars annually, misuse law enforcement personnel, and do not make us more ‘secure,’" she said. "Now is the time to reform an outdated and inhumane system, and I urge the administration and Congress to implement changes I have championed."

The administration is not immediately ending the policy because it is implementing a vaccine program to get migrants vaccinated at the border, DHS and State department officials said speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The officials said the program began this week at 11 locations along the U.S.-Mexico border, where up to 2,000 vaccines are given daily. DHS is giving the first shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the officials said. The program will expand to 27 locations along the border.

While an increased number of migrants are anticipated, DHS and State Department officials said it is hard to estimate how many migrants are waiting in Mexico. DHS is preparing for increases of border crossings in more remote areas of the border, such as Yuma, Arizona and Del Rio, Texas, the officials said.

The White House earlier this week warned that the administration is preparing for an influx of migrants at the border. White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said Wednesday that “we are doing a lot of work to plan for that contingency.”

Mayorkas said in his statement that the administration “put in place a comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy to manage any potential increase in the number of migrants encountered at our border.”

He said DHS has increased its capacity to process new arrivals, evaluate asylum requests and remove individuals who do not qualify for protection. DHS has redeployed more than 600 law enforcement officers to the southern border and will refer smugglers and certain border crossers for criminal prosecution.

“The root causes fueling irregular migration predate today’s announcement, and we have experienced increases in migration over the past decade and long before,” Mayorkas said.

The administration will work with other nations to help manage migration in the Western Hemisphere. At the Summit of the Americas in June, regional partners will sign a hemispheric declaration on migration and protections, a State Department official said.

Immigration advocates and some Democratic lawmakers have been urging the Biden administration to end the policy. Some advocates and Democrats applauded the administration's move Friday.

"America's immigration system has been broken for far too long, which is why the Biden administration's long-overdue decision to end Title 42 is an encouraging first step on the road to creating a much more humane asylum system," Murad Awawdeh, executive director of New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement.

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri, said in a statement that she commends the administration in "taking this long overdue step to end the cruel Title 42 expulsion order."

"This racist, inhumane relic from the Trump era has been devastating for migrants fleeing persecution, war, poverty, climate catastrophe and violence in their home countries and who have been forced to seek asylum in the United States," she said in a statement.

However, not every Democrat supported ending the policy.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., called Friday announcement a "frightening decision" and called for the policy to stay in place.

"We are nowhere near prepared to deal with that influx," Manchin 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.”

Conservatives and some Republican lawmakers have called on Biden to keep the policy in place.

Shortly after the CDC's announcement, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, slammed the Biden administration for ending the order, saying it is "reckless and government mismanagement at its worst."

The policy caused an increase of migrants who repeatedly crossed the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

According to the latest statistics from CBP, more than one-fourth of the border encounters in January were repeat crossers who attempted to get back into the U.S. to seek asylum.

Title 42 was not the only Trump-era policy still in place.

Biden late last year was forced by the courts to restart the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as “Remain in Mexico,” which forces migrants to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings.

Migrants will continue to be enrolled in the “Remain in Mexico” program as Title 42 comes to an end, DHS and State Department officials said.

El Paso Times reporter Lauren Villagran contributed to this story.

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Immigration: Biden to rescind Trump-era Title 42 in late May