The Biden administration has warned the American public to expect turmoil at the southern border as the U.S. braces for a potential surge in migrant numbers following the expiration of Title 42.
This order allowed for the swift expulsion of migrants at the southern border due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and officially ended with the expiration of the COVID-19 national emergency on Thursday.
Border agents have been facing unprecedented levels of activity in the days leading up to this, with over 10,000 migrant encounters each day. Authorities are now preparing housing for migrants who have no court dates, and as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas explains, “We could see very crowded Border Patrol facilities. I cannot overstate the strain on our personnel and our facilities.”
Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum. We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/JnpSw6793v
— Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (@SecMayorkas) May 12, 2023
The Biden administration had previously outlined a range of plans to deal with the issue, including Title 8 penalties and cooperation with Mexico. However, administration officials including President Joe Biden are repeatedly warning of the tumultuous times ahead. “We’ve had chaos at the border for a number of years,” he said. “We have to fully fund the border security effort.”
Mayorkas also issued a warning that fixing the issue might require comprehensive immigration reform, linking the current disorder to a long-standing problem. Meanwhile, he has been making it clear that those entering illegally “are subject to removal, period.”
However, with facilities filling up, the Border Patrol agency has confirmed that it plans to release migrants without court dates onto the streets. This prompted the Biden administration to forecast potential chaos resulting in up to 45,000 individuals in custody by the end of this month if necessary releases were blocked by the use of parole. However, later that same day, the use of parole was successfully blocked by a federal judge, who called the situation a crisis of the authorities’ own making. Border Patrol responded by warning that not using parole would now result in unsafe overcrowding that could risk dangerous conditions for both agents and migrants.
