Chris Lange, FISM News
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says he plans to lead another delegation to the southern border with fellow GOP lawmakers later this month to highlight President Biden’s “destructive border policies.”
Border agents are bracing for another massive influx of illegal immigrants in the wake of the Biden administration’s announcement last week that will repeal Title 42’s public health policy requirements. The order, which was implemented by President Trump at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, has been used by both administrations to turn away roughly 50% of migrants.
“While President Biden is hellbent on destructive border policies—like ending Title 42—that endanger our country and communities, House Republicans will continue to fight for a secure border.” McCarthy tweeted Sunday.
While President Biden is hellbent on destructive border policies—like ending Title 42—that endanger our country and communities, House Republicans will continue to fight for a secure border.
That's why I will be leading another trip to our southern border later this month.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 3, 2022
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officially announced on Friday that it will terminate Title 42 on May 23.
“After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC Director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary,” the agency said.
The announcement comes less than one month after President Biden told Americans “We need to secure the border” in his State of the Union address.
McCarthy has accused the president of deliberately exacerbating the border crisis and tying the hands of law enforcement personnel already overwhelmed by record-shattering numbers of illegal crossings since Biden took office.
“Today’s decision confirms that President Biden has abdicated his responsibilities at our borders and is actively working to make the border crisis worse,” McCarthy said in a statement to Fox News. “From day one of his administration, he has failed to protect our nation’s security and to secure the border.”
The Biden administration has admitted that terminating Title 42 will likely create another migrant surge. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the agency is working on increasing capacity, personnel, and other resources in anticipation of the expected influx.
“We have put in place a comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy to manage any potential increase in the number of migrants encountered at our border. Increasing capacity, personnel, and resources,” Mayorkas said in a statement released Friday.
The surge, meanwhile, has already begun. Reuters reports that a new migrant caravan has started making its way toward the U.S. Border. Estimated to be some 200,000 strong, the caravan departed Friday from Tapachula, a city in Mexico close to the Guatemalan border. The majority of migrants in the convoy are coming from Central America, Haiti, and Venezuela. DHS documentation, however, shows that nationals of countries around the world are using the corridor as a way to try to illegally enter the country.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is one of several GOP lawmakers calling on the Biden administration to keep the policy in place.
“Title 42 enables us to stop people who are public health threats,” Cruz said in a video posted online, during which he called the administration’s border policies a “disaster” and “indefensible.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) claims that the inundation of minors at the border is part of a greater nefarious plan by the cartel to overwhelm border agents so they can cross the border undetected to promote criminal activity.
Cartels flood the border with trafficked migrants, so agents have to leave the field to care for and process migrants, which leaves the door wide open for cartel drug & human trafficking across the border. Cartels are using this crisis to enrich themselves & kill America’s youth. pic.twitter.com/lSCZdmPf9I
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) April 3, 2022
Pro-immigrant and open-border activists and progressive Democratic lawmakers had been pressuring the Biden administration for weeks to end the public health policy, claiming it was cruel and denied migrants the right to due process.
“Title 42 has been used to deny a lot of people who really, really were escaping violence, crime, and persecution from coming to the United States,” said immigration attorney Thomas Esparza. “COVID vaccination should not be used as an excuse to keep them out,” he added.