Here is a look at what is changing, why it is happening now and why it matters. For the past two years, there has been a pandemic public health mandate that has prevented many immigrants from crossing the border and seeking asylum in the United States. The policy is known as Title 42 for the US Code used in its implementation and its days are numbered. Under this policy, authorities have deported migrants more than 1.7 million times, deporting them to Mexico or back to their countries of origin, according to Customs and Border Protection statistics. There is now a large bottleneck of people waiting to cross. And the rule that stood in their way will soon be lifted. The Biden government announced on Friday that it plans to end this public health policy on May 23. Why wait until May? Officials seem to be giving themselves a pillow to plan for the possibility of a significant increase in the number of migrants at the border. And for days now, they have been telling us that it will happen. The U.S. Border Patrol chief told CNN last week, describing a record wave and estimating that agents would arrest about 8,000 people daily. The White House also says officials are preparing to escalate the situation. “We have every expectation that when the CDC finally decides that it is appropriate to remove Title 42, there will be an influx of people across the border,” White House communications director Kate Bendingfield said on Wednesday. “And so we do a lot of work to design this unpredictable.”
The number of those arrested at the border is already increasing
The number of arrests at the US-Mexico border has already increased. The Border Patrol made more than 158,000 arrests there in February, compared with nearly 148,000 in January. This increase is not surprising. To some extent, migration is seasonal. And the number of people trying to cross the border tends to increase in the spring. Experts say the pandemic’s economic woes have further exacerbated immigration trends. In the Texas border town of Del Rio, Tiffany Barrow told CNN’s Rosa Flores this week that she sees an increase in the recreation center she runs. More than 4,400 immigrants landed there after being released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention last month, he says – more than double the number since January. Asked if she was ready for what might happen if Title 42 was lifted, Barrow said, “I do not think anyone can really be prepared.” Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez told Flores he was thinking back to last year, when thousands of migrants camped under a bridge in Del Rio, waiting for immigration authorities to process them. “Last year we called it a crisis. This year, (if) we see the same thing here in Del Rio, you know, it’s going to be a disaster,” Martinez said. At the national level, politicians and advocacy groups also seem to be preparing for something big to happen. Immigrant advocates working across borders and leading Democratic lawmakers pushed the administration to end Title 42, arguing that restricting public health was just a pretext for the United States to stop vulnerable people from seeking asylum. Many praised the reports that the policy would end soon, while also criticizing the delay. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have criticized the Biden administration for even considering removing Title 42. And Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump administration, warned on Twitter that the policy reversal would be “one of its most spectacular parodies.” history “and” opened the gates on a biblical scale “.
This time, it will be difficult for officials to claim that they did not see it coming
At times, administration by administration, officials seem surprised when large numbers of migrants begin to show up at the border – although there were many reasons they should have been prepared. But this time, as an announcement about the future of Title 42 approached, administration officials repeatedly told reporters that they were preparing for the possibility of a significant increase. Between 30,000 and 60,000 people are estimated to be in northern Mexico waiting to cross the southern US border, according to a federal law enforcement official. Some of them could apply for entry within hours if the CDC rule is lifted, the official said. Three design scenarios have been devised to activate the resources that may be needed. A planning document outlines three options that officials are preparing for as they assess the resources they might need, with the worst-case scenario of up to 18,000 people trying to cross the border daily. And officials issued a newsletter outlining the many steps DHS said it had prepared, including setting up a border co-ordination center, drawing up plans to send more resources to the area and taking steps to process asylum claims more effectively. It is possible for both Title 42 to be terminated and for asylum seekers to be processed on a regular basis, says Erika Pinheiro, court and policy director of Al Otro Lado, an organization that provides assistance to migrants and refugees. However, Pinheiro told CNN last week that she was concerned that administrators had not done more to include supporters in their plans. However, he says he has found hope in Ukrainian families who have recently been allowed to cross the border. “I feel angry on behalf of my clients who have been waiting for two years, but it also gives me a lot of hope that we can finish Title 42 in a dignified and orderly manner,” he says. Despite many predictions from officials, politicians and experts, it is important to remember that there is still much we do not know about what will happen next. Will the employees be prepared as the numbers increase? Or will we again see overcrowded facilities, an overworked system and political debate over borders escalating into a fever? There are many things that are different at the moment at the border. But we could see history repeating itself. We will follow closely the steps that the administration will take in the coming months – and what is happening at the border – closely. CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Kaitlan Collins, Kevin Liptak, Brenda Goodman and Rosa Flores contributed to this report.
