Biden considering delaying decision to end Title 42
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reports on 'Special Report' that the Biden administration is considering delaying repeal of pandemic-era immigration policy.
Border Patrol is not using the Title 42 public health order to remove many migrants from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, more than a month before the Biden administration lifts the order altogether, multiple Border Patrol sources told Fox News – although Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says that the order is still in place for those countries.
Those sources, including National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd, told Fox News that the law enforcement agency has largely stopped using Title 42 to remove migrants from Northern Triangle countries, and is instead processing them via Title 8 and expedited removal. The sources said that the order is technically still in place for those migrants, but only as long as there is space on Title 42 expulsion flights. If those flights are full, the migrants from those countries are put into expedited removal.
Expedited removal allows authorities to quickly remove a migrant without a hearing if they have recently entered the U.S. illegally. However, the sources told Fox that if a migrant claims they have a fear of persecution, the removal order is changed to a Notice to Appear -- meaning they are released into the United States with a future court date. They said that migrants are already spreading the word about what to say to get released into the U.S.
Jan. 23, 2022: Fox News footage shows migrants being released into the U.S. (Fox News)
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told Fox News in a statement that the expulsions under Title 42 for those nationalities "remain in effect" and denied that it has stopped the order for migrants from those countries.
"Under the [Centers for Disease Control] public health order, undocumented families and individuals who have entered the United States without authorization (which may include children of different nationalities) may be expelled to their country of citizenship. The children of undocumented non-citizens are kept with their parents to ensure family integrity," a spokesperson said.
"In accordance with the CDC order, non-citizens from certain non-contiguous countries are expelled via aircraft as soon as possible but the expulsion is delayed. The time required to coordinate flights for the large number of migrants falling into the delayed expulsion category necessitate detention times outside the isolation period for the COVID-19 virus. In lieu of paroling this population or issuing a notice to appear and releasing on their own recognizance, CBP is processing the migrants for expedited removal. The migrants are detained by ICE ERO pending their removal.
"The Department of Homeland Security is committed to ensuring safe, orderly, and humane immigration processes. DHS, in coordination with the Department of State, has regular discussions with partner countries in the Hemisphere on migration-related matters and continues to engage with foreign governments to improve cooperation with the few countries that systematically refuse or delay the repatriation of their nationals."
The Biden administration announced this month that it will end the order on May 23. The order was implemented by the Trump administration due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and has since been used by both the Trump and Biden administrations to expel a majority of migrants at the border. While it is a public health order, not an immigration policy, it has become one of the central border policies in place as the U.S. faces a continuing crisis of numbers at the border.
It sparked fears from both Republicans and moderate Democrats that ending the order will lead to an overwhelming surge of migrants at the border, as migrants realize that they will most likely be allowed into the U.S. while their cases are heard. The Biden administration has said it is preparing for up to 18,000 migrants a day. Agents are currently facing an influx of between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants a day.
One agent told Fox News Digital that they believe that the limiting of Title 42, now being applied almost solely to Mexican nationals, is being done to "provide cover for the Biden administration."
"If it goes bad it is Border Patrol's fault. If we minimize the traffic by May 23, the Biden admin can claim success and tout ‘see it wasn't as bad as those right wingers said.'"
There has already been massively increased traffic at the border, with more than 220,000 migrants arriving in March -- 50% of whom were expelled under Title 42. This number does not include those who got past overwhelmed Border Patrol agents.
Sen. Mark Kelly talks with CBP personnel at the border in Douglas, Arizona. (Office of Sen. Kelly)
With political pressure growing in Washington, there is currently bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress that would extend the order by 60 days and require the Department of Homeland Security to come up with a comprehensive plan for how to deal with the resultant surge at the border.
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"I warned the administration about this months and months ago, and they still don't have an adequate plan. They say they are working on it. My guess is that we’ll get to May 23, there probably is not going to be an adequate plan in place and, if that's the case, I don't think we should lift Title 42," Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., told Fox News Digital last week.
Meanwhile, multiple Republican states are suing to stop the order from being repealed, warning of a "self-inflicted catastrophe" if the Biden administration goes ahead with it.
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