Alejandro Mayorkas downplays fears of immigrants surge after Title 42 ends
Ryan King
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The United States has been gearing up for a massive surge at the border over Title 42‘s expiration for over a “year and a half,” according to a top official.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tempered expectations Sunday while underscoring the complexity of the situation.
MAYORKAS SAYS TITLE 42 BORDER SITUATION IS ‘VERY SERIOUS’ AND ‘VERY DIFFICULT’
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“We’ve been preparing for this for more than a year and a half,” Mayoraks told CBS’s Face the Nation. “We are working closely with many countries to the South. It’s going to take our plan a while to really take hold — for people to understand that they can access lawful, safe, orderly pathways before they reach the border.”
“If they come to the border, they will receive a consequence under our enforcement authorities,” he added.
Title 42 is a pandemic-era policy enacted under the Trump administration that allows U.S. Border Patrol to expel migrants back to their home country without having an asylum hearing. Initially, the policy was set to expire on May 23, 2022. That was ultimately delayed due to court challenges. It is now slated to be lifted on May 11, 2023.
With Title 42’s expiration, fears have increased that a flood of migrants will pour across the U.S.-Mexico border, believing they can get in and remain. In response to the looming lifting of the policy, the Biden administration has announced it will dispatch 1,500 active-duty troops near the El Paso region to assist with the situation.
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) proposed legislation last week to grant the DHS similar authority under Title 42 over a two-year period without using emergency health powers.
“Title 42 When the expulsion authority is a public health authority, it is not an immigration authority. We will be using our immigration authorities, which call for a consequence regime, which is why we have to correct the lies that smugglers tell vulnerable migrants they think they’re coming and they’ll be able to stay,” Mayorkas replied to a question about the proposal.
In April of last year, the Biden administration unveiled a suite of steps it was taking in anticipation of Title 42 going away. It included a multitude of steps such as surging personnel and resources; bolstering immigrant processing capacity; deterring illegal migration through deportations and prosecutions; and working to counter migration in the Western Hemisphere.
But Mayokas believes that Congress needs to step in and enact broader changes to immigration.
“Everything that the Department of Homeland Security is doing, everything that our partners across the federal government are doing, is within a broken immigration system,” Mayokas contended. “The president passed to Congress a proposal to fix our broken immigration system on the first day in office.”
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A number of Democrats, such as Henry Cuellar (D-TX), have dinged the Biden administration over its response to the anticipated crisis. Cuellar specifically commended Mayorkas and suggested that the president was holding him back.
“Untrue. One team, one mission, and we are prepared to execute it,” Mayorkas said in response.