The newspaper reported that it reviewed a draft of a proposed order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that will be published this week. The order is being reviewed by the White House’s Office for Information and Regulatory Affairs.
The CDC is delaying the cancellation of Title 42 expulsions until May 23 so the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is able to contend with a springtime spike in illegal immigration, according to the WSJ.
Expressing fears of a surge on the southern border, a mostly Republican set of members of Congress wrote a letter urging DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to continue the application of Title 42.
U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-15) also signed on to the letter. Cuellar has a history of pushing back on his party’s general posture on illegal immigration, specifically by challenging President Biden on border security.
ABC News reported on Wednesday that the administration was gearing up for the possibility of up to 18,000 daily enforcement encounters after the termination of the use of Title 42.
This would amount to well over half of a million encounters in a single month, more than the 400,000 that the administration had feared would attempt illegal entry when a federal judge had ordered the partial revocation of the application of Title 42 last September. The judge’s order was ultimately blocked by a higher court.
In contrast, there were 165,000 enforcement encounters with illegal aliens nationwide last month, which is already an increase from February of last year, when there were about 101,000.
About two-thirds of the single adult illegal aliens arrested in the U.S. last month were set for deportation under Title 42. In addition, 29 percent of illegal aliens who were arrested as part of a family unit were expelled under the statutes.
Supporters of the use of Title 42 have contended that local law enforcement agencies would be overwhelmed, such as when about 30,000 mostly Haitian illegal aliens crossed into Val Verde County.
After that extraordinary event, attention shifted to Title 42 as many of the individuals were sent back to Haiti on deportation flights pursuant to the statutes.
Mayorkas asserted that the use of Title 42 was implemented as a “public health imperative” and part of the Biden administration’s response to COVID-19, not part of its immigration policy.
Even with expulsions under Title 42, the number of illegal aliens residing in the country increased by 1.13 million during Biden’s first year in office, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
There were more than 97,000 encounters with illegal aliens in Texas border patrol sectors in February, according to the most recent update provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agency also reported almost one million enforcement encounters nationwide with illegal aliens and unaccompanied minors so far this fiscal year.
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Hayden Sparks
Hayden Sparks is a senior reporter for The Texan and a lifelong resident of the Lone Star State. He has coached competitive speech and debate and has been involved in politics since a young age. One of Hayden's favorite quotes is by Sam Houston: "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
