US surging air transportation and resources to border in preparation for Title 42 ending
Anna Giaritelli
The federal government has taken extensive steps to prepare for a historic surge of immigrants across the southern border next month, contracting planes to expeditiously move people in custody within the United States, according to the country’s top border official.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s acting commissioner, Troy Miller, told lawmakers in a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon that the 60,000-person agency had gone to extreme measures to be prepared for May 11, when the pandemic public health policy Title 42 is set to end.
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“Many of these individuals could attempt to enter the United States in the near term,” Miller told members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
The conclusion of Title 42, after more than three years of being in effect, means border officials will no longer have the authority to turn away illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers automatically. Miller cited United Nations statistics that concluded 660,000 immigrants were currently traversing Mexico, including more than 200,000 Haitian and Venezuelan citizens, as well as 280,000 internally displaced Mexicans.
CBP first planned to end Title 42 last May, then was delayed by federal litigation until December 2022. The termination is expected to happen. Due to the false endings, the agency has had ample time to prepare, and Miller expects at least 10,000 encounters of people per day, not including immigrants who evade agents and get away. At present, about 5,000 immigrants are being encountered daily, which would mean agents could see double that figure come May 11.
Over the past year, CBP has brought on 1,100 employees who are responsible for interviewing and intaking immigrants who Border Patrol agents have apprehended, according to Miller. The new hires will allow as many Border Patrol agents to return to the field instead of being inside facilities.
“Our efforts over the last year have allowed us to get a significant amount of badges back to the border,” Miller said, a reference to federal agents at Border Patrol.
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During previous influxes of immigrants in custody at the border, CBP has used U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resources to fly people to less-full facilities across the country. By contracting out air transportation, it will not interrupt ICE operations. Miller did not disclose how much money or who was hired to take care of the flights.
“We’ve doubled our transportation contract. We have the first-ever air transport contract in the history of Customs and Border Protection,” Miller said.
CBP has also increased the amount of space it has at its existing facilities or at pop-up facilities to hold immigrants. Across the 1,954-mile southern border, CBP has space for 6,000 people per day and will be adding enough space for an additional 2,500 people, Miller said.
The agency plans to screen many immigrants for asylum through a virtual process and is installing 600 booths at facilities for people to speak one on one with a government official on the other end of a computer.
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Immigrants who do not meet initial asylum bars will be returned to their home country.
Miller expects CBP to ramp up the expedited removal process, a faster procedure for removing immigrants from the country.