Late this Thursday, the coronavirus asylum restrictions that have allowed the United States to quickly expel immigrants at the southern border for the past three years end.
Constraints are often known as Title 42because the authority comes from Title 42 of a 1944 public health law that allows curbing migration in the name of protecting public health.
The end of the use of Title 42 has raised questions about what will happen to migration at the US-Mexico border. The Biden administration is bracing for a surge in migrants.
A look at what Title 42 is and why it matters:
In March 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order limiting migration, saying it was necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Schools and businesses closed their doors and hospitals filled with patients. President Donald Trump was looking for ways to curb immigration, his star political issue.
The order authorized Customs and Border Protection to immediately expel migrants, including asylum seekers. The order said that the areas where migrants were being held were often not designed for quarantining or social distancing.
Initially, the Biden government maintained this policy. Although many Democrats lobbied President Joe Biden to repeal it, some — especially in border states — have advocated keeping it, arguing the United States is not prepared for a surge in asylum seekers.
Title 42 it has been used more than 2.8 million times to expel migrants from its application. However, children traveling alone are exempt. Besides, its application has been uneven by nationalityin part because it is more difficult to expel people to some countries, such as Venezuela and Cuba.
The Biden administration announced in January that it was ending national emergencies related to the pandemic. That also meant an end to the use of Title 42 to deal with immigration. Thursday is the last day Title 42 is expected to be used.
It is not the first time that its use is about to expire. The CDC announced in April 2022 that the rule was no longer needed because vaccines and treatments were more widespread. Republican-leaning states demanded that it remain in effect.
Although it seems likely that Title 42 will go away this week, it is always possible that last-minute legal maneuvering will keep it in effect.
Starting Friday, asylum seekers will be interviewed by immigration officials. Those with a “credible fear” of persecution in their home countries may remain in the United States until a final decision is made..
This can take years. Although some people are detained while their asylum process takes place, the vast majority are released into the United States with notices to appear in immigration court or appear before immigration authorities.
One of the main concerns is that immigrants think that they now have a better chance of obtaining asylum in the United States, so that more will try to enter and will overwhelm the capacity of the authorities to serve and process them.. This could divert Customs and Border Protection agents from other responsibilities, such as hunting down smugglers and facilitating the billions of dollars of trade that crosses the southern border.
At some points on the border between the US and Mexico there are already a greater number of immigrants. The head of the United States Border Patrol, Raúl Ortiz, said on Twitter on Monday that his agents they had apprehended about 8,800 migrants a day over a period of three days. This figure is higher than the 5,200 daily arrests in March and far exceeds that of December, the month with the highest number of arrests on record.
Others have argued that no one really knows how many people will try to enter the US. They point out that people removed under Title 42 face no consequences, so some have tried repeatedly.
The United States says yes. Critics say no.
The federal government has said it has been more than a year in the making. He hopes that initially more migrants will arrive.
The Biden government’s strategy has been based on provide more legal avenues for immigrants to reach the United States without going directly across the border. That includes creating centers in foreign countries where migrants can apply to emigrate, as well as a humanitarian parole process already underway with 30,000 slots a month for people from four countries to come to the United States.
The US is expanding the appointments available through an app called CBP One, which allows migrants to schedule a time to appear at a border post and request permission to enter.
There are also consequences. The United States is proposing a rule that, in general, would deny asylum to immigrants who first pass through another country. He also wants to quickly screen immigrants who apply for asylum at the border and deport those deemed ineligible, and deny re-entry for five years to those who are deported.
Republicans have lashed out at the administration, saying the United States is not doing enough to protect the border.
On Monday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs asked the White House for more funding for border communities, as well as a satisfactory plan to deal with any surge in migrants. Hobbs is a Democrat, like the president.
Civil rights groups have other concerns. They have compared the severe limits on migrants arriving through a third country with the measures adopted by Trump. They also said the plan to quickly process asylum claims at the border is not fair to migrants who have just arrived from a long and dangerous journey.
(With information from AP)
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