Frantic preparations are underway in El Paso, Texas — ground zero for the border crisis — to deal with an expected flood of illegal migrants when Title 42 ends May 11.
The city has already seen an increased influx — with about 1,460 illegal border jumpers a day, according to the US Border Patrol.
And an estimated 40,000 migrants who hope to seek asylum in the US are amassed in Juarez, Mexico, just feet away from Texas’ sixth largest city, waiting for Title 42 to be lifted.
Created during the Trump administration, Title 42 is a pandemic policy that’s allowed the Border Patrol to kick out asylum-seeking migrants from the US and into Mexico without hearing if they have a credible case or not.
It currently applies to Cubans, Guatemalans, Haitians, Hondurans, Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Salvadorans and Venezuelans.
The Biden administration is ending all federal COVID policies on May 11.
Janeicy, a Venezuelan mom living on the streets of Juarez with her 6-year-old child, is among those waiting for the expiration, recounting how staying in Mexico has become more difficult.
She’s hoping to wait it out, but added conditions are increasingly hard in Mexico.
“First, I have no money,” she told the Border Report.
“Second, I’m afraid to give up now [to Border Patrol] and be sent back after coming from so far away.
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 enforced by the US Border Patrol. It 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 and who are from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua or Venezuela are subject 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 and Prevention 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 maintain the safety of federal agents encountering migrants.
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 at 11:59 p.m. May 11, 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.
“I don’t know if I will remain here. I want to turn myself in because I am tired of sleeping in a tent, uncomfortable with my son…and to eat (only) once in a while; not to have a good meal,” she said.
Migrants on both sides of the border are overwhelming shelters, with 200 migrants crammed into a tent outside El Paso’s “Opportunity Center” for the homeless.
“These are all migrants the majority of which are from Venezuela,” director John Martin told KTSM.
“The reality of it is we already have 100 migrants inside, plus the local homeless population, so we simply don’t have any space.”
Border Patrol officials have released a plan to deal with the massive influx, according to the Border Report.
It includes building a second large tent like the one first reported by The Post in December.
Once completed this June, it’ll give the agency three processing centers in El Paso to house migrants, take biometric information and run background checks.
The feds are also focused on freeing up border agents from administrative duties so they can focus on catching illegal entrants — and have enlisted the help of contractors, vendors and volunteers for those administrative tasks.
Also, Border Patrol agents from the northern border will be using video-conferencing to interview migrants in custody in El Paso.
There are already 200 civilian processing coordinators in West Texas.
Meanwhile, federal asylum adjudicators from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be brought to processing centers to determine which migrants have legitimate cases.
Those who don’t meet the initial threshold will be removed.
The agency also plans to ramp up repatriation flights, noting one recent flight from El Paso to Guatemala carried 139 illegal immigrants.
