Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is preparing to send “thousands more” migrants to the Big Apple, Chicago, and other sanctuary cities “in the coming days,” as the border is besieged ahead of Title 42 ending this week.
Abbott, a Republican, slammed President Joe Biden for failing to act as states bordering Mexico prepare for the end of the federal policy which has allowed for the fast ejection of immigrants from the US since it went into place in 2021.
Even before its end, the border has been swarmed with 81,000 people attempting to cross into the US in the last 10 days.
“With the Biden Administration ending Title 42 this Thursday, President Biden is laying down a welcome mat to people across the entire world, saying that the United States border is wide open and it will lead to an incredible amount of people coming across the border illegally,” Abbott told reporters during a Monday press conference, as Texas National Guard members were deployed to the US-Mexico border.
The end of Title 42 — introduced during the pandemic as a public health measure — Abbott said, would likely “cause a catastrophic disaster in the United States.”
Abbott cited the Biden administration in saying up to 13,000 migrants would try to cross into the US each day following the end of Title 42.
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.
That would add up to more than 4.74 million migrants entering the US in a single year – more than the population of Chicago, he claimed.
“Thousands have been bussed already,” Abbott added, referencing his state bus program that has shipped migrants to New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
“Many thousands more will be bussed in the coming days because of the massive influx of illegal migrants,” he added.
Hot spot cities such as Texas’ Brownsville and El Paso — in recent weeks two of the busiest border crossings in the country —are continuing to make 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 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.
Texas’ Tactical Border Force, a team of specially trained National Guard members, boarded Black Hawk Helicopters and C-130 Hercules aircraft en route to the US-Mexico border.
The team will also utilize drones, watercraft, and riot gear as needed.
“They will be deployed to hot spots along the border to intercept, to repeal, and to turn back migrants that are trying to enter the US illegally,” Abbott said.
Meanwhile, 1,200 troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety will be deployed along the border to “hold the line,” said Director Steve McGraw.
“There’s 29 places where you can cross into the US legally, and that’s where they will cross,” McGraw said.
“The job of the Texas military forces and the Texas Department of Public Safety, assisted by our Texas game wardens and other state resources, [will be] to hold that line and make sure that’s the only place where they cross.”
State border czar Mike Brown said Texas had “done more than any other state to deal with this humanitarian catastrophe.”
He added: “Governor Abbott is doing the job that President Biden and the federal administration refuse to do.”
