Amid a record-smashing surge of illegal immigration to America involving upward of 170,000 crossers a month, President Biden is considering ending a public health order that allows US border officials to turn away migrant families in Mexico, according to a report.
Title 42 — the policy established through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent COVID-19 from hitting the US — allows Customs and Border Protection to expel migrants to avoid the virus’ spread in holding facilities.
The public health order, enacted by President Donald Trump in March 2020, has not been reversed by Biden despite continued pressure from immigration activists, human rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Migrants climb over a fence in a yard near the border between Mexico and the United States in Del Rio, Texas.SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images
Biden, Axios reported Monday, is considering ending the order — which has resulted in tens of thousands of migrant family members being sent away — as early as July 31.
Top CDC officials have voiced their opposition to using the order as a mechanism to conduct immigration policy, and top administration officials, the outlet reported, have suggested to Biden that he seize the moment by ending it.
The administration officials have argued that permitting the ACLU to sue over the policy would force the Justice Department to defend a Trump-era rule.
A group of Venezuelan immigrants is taken into US Border Patrol custody in Texas.John Moore/Getty Images
The ACLU placed a temporary hold on lawsuits regarding the expulsion of migrant families as the new administration decides how it will move forward on the policy.
The nonprofit organization has been in negotiations with Biden on the issue.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Migrants attempting to cross into the US from Mexico are detained by US Customs and Border Protection in San Luis, Arizona.Nick Ut/Getty Images
In a statement to Axios, a White House official said it is “a public health decision that will be made ultimately on those grounds.” They added that the administration would not get ahead of any CDC determinations.
The Biden administration’s undoing of Trump’s border policies has prompted a flood of Central American and Mexican illegal migrants at the US border, including thousands of unescorted children.
A Texas state trooper watches over Venezuelan immigrants as they wait to be taken into custody by US Border Patrol agents on May 19, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas.John Moore/Getty Images
Central Americans looking for refuge from the Northern Triangle countries — Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras — have taken these policy moves, as well as the overwhelmingly more welcoming tone from Democrats, as a sign that Biden is inviting them to cross the border.
Insisting that the border was not facing a crisis, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in early March that the problems the agency faced should be blamed on the previous administration.
The data, however, overwhelmingly shows that migrants are flooding the border because they believe Biden will welcome them with open arms, with over 170,000 illegal crossings a month.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas previously said the situation at the border was not a crisis.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
As the crisis heated up, Biden tapped his vice president to address the diplomatic measures related to its “root causes.” However, despite intense pressure, Vice President Kamala Harris has yet to visit and surveil the situation for herself.
Several leaders in Central America and Mexico have spoken out to blame the Biden administration for the crisis that has been sparked since they took the helm.
Most recently, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said on American media that the Democrats’ “lukewarm” rhetoric and unwillingness to impose harsher punishments on human smuggling were key factors in the current situation.
