As the border crisis continues to escalate, President Joe Biden has announced a plan to address the issue. In a press conference on Thursday, Biden revealed his intention to expand an initiative that targets Venezuelan migrants to include Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians.
However, many Republican voters are skeptical of Biden’s plan, as it seems to undermine the effectiveness of Title 42, the public health service act implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to restrict immigration. The Supreme Court recently intervened to keep Title 42 in place while legal challenges to the policy are ongoing.
But in his remarks, Biden claimed that Title 42 “makes the problem at the border worse,” citing the fact that those turned away under the policy are not barred from trying to enter the U.S. again and again, which only exacerbates the crisis.
These statements fly in the face of the facts, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Over 1 million migrants were expelled under Title 42 in the fiscal year 2022, accounting for approximately 40% of immigrants encountered by Border Patrol.
This marks an increase from the 1.7 million encounters in the previous fiscal year. More than 2 million people have been expelled under Title 42 since it was put into effect by the Trump administration.
When it seemed that Title 42 might expire, border towns saw a surge of migrants preparing to enter the country. At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security moved over 3,400 migrants out of the area through Title 42 expulsions or ICE expedited removal flights.
Contrary to the claims of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the Biden administration has not prioritized solutions to the border crisis. In fact, the president has focused on reversing several Trump-era immigration policies, including boosting refugee admissions, preserving deportation relief for illegal immigrants, and not enforcing the “public charge” rule that denies green cards to immigrants who use government benefits.
Biden has also proposed increasing annual “diversity visas” from 50,000 to 80,000, a move that President Trump opposed.
Title 42 is one of the few remaining protections for the southwest border since Biden took office, especially since his administration ended the construction of the border wall and sued Arizona for building its own barrier out of shipping containers.
Lora Ries, the Director of Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, wrote that under the previous presidential administration, Title 42 played a crucial role in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting the public health. It also helped to reduce the number of illegal crossings at the border.
Given the ongoing crisis and the importance of Title 42 in addressing it, many passionate Republican voters are questioning the wisdom of Biden’s plan to expand the initiative targeting Venezuelan migrants. Without effective measures in place to protect the border and the public health, the crisis is likely to continue to worsen.
