What the end of Title 42 means for immigration

The New York Daily News - 5/11/2023

The COVID-era U.S. immigration policy Title 42 is set to expire Thursday night as the public health emergency ends, with new policies set to replace it.

Title 42 was a Trump administration policy that was implemented in March 2020 to purportedly slow the spread of COVID-19. It was invoked under a 1944 law that limited border crossings for public health reasons.

The policy was used to immediately expel undocumented migrants who crossed the border, including migrants seeking asylum, whereas in the past, migrants who crossed the border illegally could claim asylum, be screened and released into the U.S. to await a hearing in immigration court.

The Biden administration kept the policy in place and the U.S. has used it to expel nearly 3 million people over 38 months.

According to the human rights organization Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the policy led to 64% of all single migrants and 22% of migrant families being expelled immediately upon arrival, though the Biden administration stopped expelling unaccompanied children who crossed the border.

The number of migrants taken into Customs and Border Protection has surged this week as the end of Title 42 approaches. However, the Biden administration announced new rules that may act similarly to the old policy.

One new rule would require migrants to request asylum before crossing the border, as well as block people who crossed between ports of entry into the U.S. and migrants who passed through other countries on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border without seeking asylum in those countries first. If the new rules are enforced strictly, it would partially end the long-standing policy of refugees being able to seek asylum upon reaching U.S. soil. A lawsuit challenging this rule is expected.

Under Title 42, migrants who were expelled could keep trying to get into the U.S., but the new rules will bar migrants from trying again for five years. Those caught trying to enter the country earlier could face criminal prosecution.

The State Department has announced that 100 processing centers will be opened in Latin America to facilitate asylum claims. Migrants will be able to make appointments with a mobile app, even though there's a limited number of appointments available each day. However, no opening date for those processing centers has yet to be announced.

Still, critics of the new policy believe it will ultimately lead to deportations of people who should qualify for asylum.

Mexico has agreed to accept expelled migrants from some other Latin American and Caribbean countries, but overcrowding at shelters has led to worsening conditions, including a March 2023 fire at detention center in Ciudad Juarez that killed 40 people.

Title 42 s restrictions official end at 11:59 ET on Thursday night.

With News Wire Services