The Biden administration has taken action to end the Title 42 restrictions which allowed migrants to be quickly expelled at the southern border. The restrictions had been put in place by the Trump administration in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. The Biden administration is now intending to return to the original policy which requires migrants to be released into the country. The Biden administration has decided it is safe to return to this policy because of the decrease in Covid cases, the number of vaccinated Americans and new protocols that allow migrants to be vaccinated onsite at the border.
Individuals on both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns over the waves of migrants that will be entering the U.S. come May 23. Some Republican and Moderate Democrat lawmakers claim that there is not a sufficient plan in place to correctly manage these migrant waves.
The Biden administration, on the other hand, believes that this policy’s removal is long overdue, and has questioned the actual effectiveness it has on stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Many migrant advocates believe that this policy was implemented with political motivations at its core instead of the true focus being health and safety. Reasons for this theory come from former president Trump’s goal to enforce stricter border security. Any border legislation, restrictions or protocols have stirred up controversy ever since former president Trump began campaigning for presidency.
“Between 30,000 to 60,000 people are estimated to be in northern Mexico, waiting to cross the southern US border, according to a federal law enforcement official,” CNN said. Many of them are not from Mexico but have journeyed hundreds of miles from countries in Central America. It is possible that a maximum of 18,000 migrants could cross the border daily when Title 42 is replaced.
Overturning Trump-era policy has been a chief objective of President Biden who ran on the campaign slogan, “Build Back Better.” Some see this latest move as a purely political move to make a political statement, while others see it as an important step to overturn a policy that was doing more harm than good. A large surge of migrants could cause yet another crisis for President Biden to deal with as the midterm elections approach. At the same time, if the administration handles this transition well, it could give the Democrats a boost at the midterms.
Sources: CBS, CNN, Fox News