Manchin joins Texas Republicans in calling on Biden to extend border order
Rachel Schilke
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is joining his colleagues from Texas in asking President Joe Biden to extend an order that will prohibit illegal immigrants from crossing over the southern border.
Under Title 42, immigrants, typically from Mexico and Central American countries, are released usually within 24 to 48 hours after screening. A federal judge overturned the policy on Nov. 15.
BORDER PATROL OVERRUN WITH 4,500 IN CUSTODY AS IMMIGRANTS RUSH TO BEAT TITLE 42
With the order ending on Dec. 20, Border Patrol will not be able to return people across the border immediately and will arrest each illegal immigrant and detain them. However, Border Patrol does not have the capacity to detain immigrants for as long as it takes to process people due to overcrowding facilities.
Manchin, along with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX), sent a letter to Biden on Tuesday stating that five weeks (from Nov. 15 to Dec. 20) is “completely inadequate” to prepare for an influx of immigrants, especially those with invalid claims of asylum or relief.
They are asking Biden to extend the order until Congress has time to pass bipartisan immigration legislation.
“This situation is untenable, and we must work together to keep in place DHS’s authority to quickly expel migrants until an acceptable set of alternative policies and resources is put into place,” the members wrote.
A “crisis” exists at the southern border, the members said, and they are concerned at the level of support from the Biden administration.
“Never before in our nation’s history have we experienced this scope and scale of illegal border crossings, and we remain concerned that your administration has not provided sufficient support or resources to the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who are tasked with maintaining border security,” the members wrote.
The members stated that they are committed to creating bipartisan legislation to allow the Department of Homeland Security to implement immigration policies without allowing an influx of illegal immigrants into the United States to undergo “months- or years-long processes.”
They wrote that as long as Title 42 remains the only “effective tool” for controlling immigration, “pressure will continue to build on the southern border.”
“While admittedly imperfect, termination of the CDC’s Title 42 order at this time will result in a complete loss of operational control over the southern border, a profoundly negative impact on border communities, and significant suffering and fatalities among the migrants unlawfully entering the United States,” the members wrote.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Internal planning documents obtained by the Washington Examiner on Monday morning revealed that Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector, just one of nine southern border regions, had 4,500 immigrants in custody Saturday.
Border Patrol had apprehended 16,000 illegal immigrants nationwide and seized $97 million worth of narcotics at the border within 48 hours, according to a statement.