Biden administration assessing end of Title 42
Expectations are running high that the Biden administration will roll back Title 42, the Trump-era policy that allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the border without giving them the chance to seek asylum.
Multiple outlets on Wednesday reported the administration is reviewing plans to end the policy on May 23, but that a final decision has not yet been made, adding to expectations that the Trump-era policy will soon end.
A draft order to end Title 42 is circulating in the federal government, but it has yet to get sign-off from all cabinet departments and the White House, The Hill has learned.
That means the order could still change, subject to comments made by top officials.
Because of its presumptive public health basis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Wollensky technically has the sole authority to end or continue the policy.
While crafted by the Trump administration just days into the pandemic, Title 42 has been used more than 2 million times by the Biden administration, meaning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expelled foreign nationals more than 2 million times under the guise of pandemic-related health restrictions.
Democrats and immigration advocates have become exasperated with the Biden administration for arguing Title 42 is a necessary public health measure as the U.S. largely eases COVID restrictions.
Top Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
Chuck SchumerUS using Ukraine as cover to lock us into fossil fuels for years to come Lawmakers warn US could lose EV, AV race Shaheen says she has ‘agreement in principle’ with Collins on bill to lower insulin costs MORE (D-N.Y.), have been openly critical of the Biden administration’s use of the policy, and have privately pushed the White House to end Title 42.
“The best time to end Title 42 was Day One, the second best time is now,” said a Senate aide discussing Senate Democrats’ view of the policy.
Wednesday’s leak of the potential order caught most major stakeholders — from the Senate to cabinet officials — by surprise, furthering confusion as to the administration’s plans.
Administration officials have adopted a two-pronged strategy to counter pressure from the left to rescind Title 42: They have insisted the authority to end the policy rests solely on Wollensy’s shoulders, and warned that lifting the policy would spark a surge of migrants at the border.
“We have every expectation that when the CDC ultimately decides it’s appropriate to lift title 42, there will be an influx of people to the border,” White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield
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The planned withdrawal of Title 42 comes after a conflicting set of court decisions on the policy, one directing the administration to expand the policy by applying it to children traveling alone, while a separate court decision imposed new limits, prohibiting sending families subjected to Title 42 to places where they may face torture or persecution.
In response, the CDC days later rescinded the policy for children and noted it would continue a broader review of the order through March 30.
While DHS has maintained it has no influence over the CDC’s decision, it signaled on Tuesday that it was preparing for an influx of migrants at the border, something they said could result from typical spring migration patterns or the lifting of Title 42.
Among the scenarios they were preparing for include a jump from current flows of about 7,000 migrants a day to as high as 18,000.
Brett Samuels contributed to this report.