(RepublicanNews.org) – As the order allowing immigrants to be turned away from the border over pandemic-era public health concerns is set to expire, Republican lawmakers are pushing President Joe Biden to extend it in anticipation of mass illegal immigration.
Title 42 has been used since the Trump administration to turn away immigrants at border checkpoints over public health concerns. But it is set to expire the second week of May, and lawmakers are concerned about a possible surge of migrants.
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and others sent a letter to Biden asking him to reverse his earlier decision to end the order. The letter claims that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says up to 13,000 immigrant “encounters” may happen every day in response to the order’s expiration.
The letter said allowing Title 42 to lapse will contribute to what is “already a national security and humanitarian disaster” on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Trump administration began using Title 42 in mid-2020, the first year of the Covid pandemic. It allows for the rapid rejection of illegal immigrants and has been used to turn back millions. Both the Trump and Biden White Houses have extensively used Title 42. This past March, 46 percent of all immigrant encounters’ ended with the migrants being expelled under Title 42.
Several top Republicans joined Graham in signing the letter, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John Cornyn of Texas, John Kennedy of Lousiana, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz of Texas, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Mike Lee of Utah.
Even the Biden administration, which has taken a much softer approach to immigration than the Republicans, has warned would-be immigrants that they will not have an easier time entering the country just because Title 42 is expiring.
This week, Biden committed to sending 1,500 U.S. troops to the border to fill support roles.
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