Border Democrat bucks Biden and backs Title 42 extension
Kaelan Deese Anna Giaritelli
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Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) on Monday voiced his support for extending a Trump-era and GOP-backed immigration policy expected to end on Thursday, saying he wants to ensure a “smooth transition” as officials warn of record numbers of migrant crossings.
“I am for the extension of Title 42, at least for a little while longer,” Gonzalez told the Washington Examiner on Monday. “And the reason is because I think that would give us an opportunity to build much more infrastructure to assure that it’s a smooth transition from Title 42 to ultimately Title 8.”
TITLE 42 ENDING: TEXAS GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES BORDER FORCE TO ‘REPEL’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Under Title 42, more than 2.8 million immigrants have been expelled under that pandemic-era policy that allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to quickly turn away immigrants entering the United States for public health reasons. After 11:59 pm EDT Thursday, Title 8 will kick in and automatically deport most immigrants after they enter the U.S., and those who attempt to cross again may face felony charges.
While Gonzalez has long supported the broad powers to turn away immigrants under the Trump-era policy, his calls to extend it are even more timely given the dramatic surge of immigrants near his district in Brownsville. CBP announced that 26,382 immigrants were apprehended this weekend alone in the area.
“An extension of Title 42 right now — if you asked me if that was a stand-alone bill, would I vote for it? I would.” Gonzalez said, adding, “I always err on the conservative side and to transition smoothly.”
Meanwhile, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Thomas Tillis (R-NC) are proposing legislation that would allow a temporary two-year authority to expel immigrants from the U.S., similar to how Title 42 presently operates.
The Biden administration, which fought in court to get rid of Title 42, announced late last month that it would establish so-called regional processing centers throughout Latin America to help control the massive backup of immigrants in wait at the southern border. The first centers were established in Colombia and Guatemala.
Apart from wanting to extend Title 42, Gonzalez said he agrees with the Biden administration setting up processing centers south of the U.S. border “in a very humane way” to “deal with the movement of migrants as far away from our southern border as possible.”
Gonzalez himself has proposed the Safe Zone Act to set up additional regional processing centers in Central and Latin America, contending that it “removes the cartels out of the equation.”
“It makes a lot of sense to do it, and I think we should work with governments and give them the resources they need to work along with us and have a long-term strategy,” he said.
“You know, I am concerned,” Gonzalez said when asked about the end of Title 42, noting there are “30,000 migrants just right across the border.”
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Still, Gonzalez was cautiously optimistic that the capabilities of Title 8 might allow border officers some bandwidth to start deporting many people back to their home country.
“And I think that is also going to send a message to many people who are thinking that by coming into our border, they’re going to just make it through,” he said.