A bipartisan group of lawmakers are urging President Joe Biden to extend Title 42 — a Trump-era health order which prevented asylum-seekers from crossing the United States-Mexico border, due to the COVID-19 pandemic — before it expires next week.
In a letter penned by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and Rep. Henry Cuéllar, D-Texas, the lawmakers wrote: "We have a crisis at our southern border.
"Never before in our nation's history have we experienced this scope and scale of illegal border crossings, and we remain concerned that your administration has not provided sufficient support or resources to the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security who are tasked with maintaining border security."
The congressional quartet also teased they're in negotiations to enact "legislation that will allow DHS to effectively implement policies and programs that have been revealed as critical to maintaining operational control over the southern border, and do not involve paroling large numbers of migrants into the United States to undergo months- or years-long processes."
Title 42 will formally end on Dec. 21, as ordered by Judge Emmet Sullivan in November, short of congressional action in the coming days. After that, Border Patrol officials will be obliged to process all eligible migrants claiming asylum.
The CDC initially lifted the Title 42 order in April, but the Biden administration extended it for a short period.
"In the interim, we urge you to do everything within your power to extend the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Title 42 order beyond the looming December 21st deadline until Congress can act."
Logistical critics of Title 42 argue it's not comprehensive enough, given how it doesn't apply to Cuban or Nicaraguan nationals attempting to cross the southern border illegally; and only Venezuelans pursuing a similar pathway are partially protected, according to reports.
"Based on recent court filings, DHS is almost completely reliant on Title 42 to control migration from Mexico and the Northern Triangle: the vast majority of Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Salvadorans encountered by U.S. Border Patrol along the border in October 2022 were expelled under Title 42 rather than processed under Title 8," wrote the lawmakers.
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