Over 81K migrants stopped at border as Title 42 end looms
More than 81,000 migrants were stopped at the US border in the past 10 days as the frenzy ahead of the end of Title 42 on Thursday draws closer.
While a huge number handed themselves in to Border Patrol, 7,400 other migrants were ‘gotaways’ who were able to slip onto US soil and away from agents through all US borders over the past 72 hours, USBP Chief Raul Ortiz said Monday.
An estimated 18,700 also got away from authorities in the seven days before that, Ortiz has also said. Most gotaways are seen on video surveillance located in remote regions which are hard for agents to get to or spotted by field agents but unable to be apprehended.
Among those stopped at the border were nine sex offenders and eight gang members, according to Customs and Border Patrol. They also retrieved 17 guns and recovered 2,894 pounds of meth, 167 pounds of cocaine and 147 pounds of fentanyl.
USBP intercepted 164 pounds of marijuana, 83 pounds of meth and 66 pounds of cocaine, as well as several pounds’ worth of fentanyl and heroin, over the past 72 hours alone, Ortiz said.
A panic is underway at the border with many migrants turning themselves over to agents in the final days before Title 42 expires, ending years of CBP agents being able to swiftly eject migrants from certain countries without hearing their asylum claims, citing public health reasons.
An uncertainty over what will happen after is making many desperate migrants attempt to cross the border — either legally or illegally — as a result.
Title 42, enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic under President Donald Trump, is set to end Thursday.
What is Title 42 and what does its end mean for US border immigration?
What is Title 42?
Title 42 is a federal health measure currently enforced by the US Border Patrol. It currently allows the agency to kick certain migrants out of the US and return them to Mexico. This includes asylum seekers, who under international law, have the legal right to make an asylum claim in America.
Currently, migrants who cross the border illegally who are from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela are amenable to Title 42 and could be sent to Mexico.
How did Title 42 start?
President Donald Trump invoked the law in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, asking the Centers for Disease Control to issue the policy. The Trump Administration made the case that keeping migrants out of the country would slow down the spread of infections and keep federal agents encountering migrants safe.
What has happened with Title 42 under Biden?
When President Biden took over, he continued to enforce Title 42 with one important change from his predecessor. Biden said Border Patrol agents were only allowed to expel migrants from certain countries under his direction. That meant migrants seeking asylum from countries like Cuba and Venezuela could still seek asylum if they arrived at the border and stay in the US while their cases were decided in court — unless they had a criminal record.
What is happening with Title 42 now?
Title 42 is supposed to be a health policy — not an immigration law. It will end on May 11 at 11:59 p.m., when the Biden Administration ends all COVID-19 related policies.
Why is it controversial?
Many have called for the policy’s end, saying it’s illegal and that international law guarantees people the right to seek asylum.
Others, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, warn that the southern border could see up to 13,000 migrants per day crossing with the intention to stay in the country when the measure ends.
What would the end of Title 42 mean for immigration into the US?
It’s unclear exactly how many people have been expelled under Title 42 because there have been scores of people who have attempted to enter the country numerous times and been rejected again and again, but the US Border Patrol said it made an all-time high of more than 2.3 million arrests at the border in the last fiscal year. Forty percent of people who were expelled from the country were ejected under the rules of Title 42.
Hot bed cities such as Texas’ Brownsville and El Paso – seen as “ground zero” for the border crisis – are making preparations ahead of Thursday, as law enforcement previously told the Post thousands of migrants had gathered along the Mexico border ahead of the deadline.
According to data obtained by The Post, up to 16,000 migrants are camped and waiting to cross into San Diego from Tijuana, while as many as 35,000 are waiting in Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez to cross into El Paso.
Texas cities of Brownsville, El Paso and Laredo have already declared states of emergency.
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