Border Agents Seek Guidance as Title 42 Ends on May 11 and Migrant Surge Approaches

Title 42, a last-minute Trump immigration policy that was a barrier against soaring immigration chaos, will expire on the 11th of May. Border Agents warn that the Biden Administration’s lack of information and preparation for Border Agents could create chaos at the southern border.

The order was issued by former president Donald Trump in March 2020 to allow the federal government to act in response to public health and welfare events such as COVID-19. Title 42 was used to expel roughly 2.5 million immigrants from the U.S.

For months, the battle to keep Title 42 and the Biden Administration’s effort to allow as many illegal immigrants as possible into the United States has been raging. The order had been set to expire on December 21. However, Chief Justice John Roberts issued an order to stay the expiration after several states made appeals to the Court. The stay overturned an earlier ruling from November 2022 that voids the order. The Supreme Court’s ruling that Title 42 cannot be terminated at the end of 2022 was a big victory for Republicans and other groups trying to maintain order. Oral arguments were heard over the order in February. A final decision will be made on Title 42 in June.

It is of little comfort to Border Agents who expect a flood of immigrants once the order expires. The agents who are on the front line at the border are being told only to mentally prepare themselves for the worst. In the words of an agent, “Brace yourself for f***ing impacts” and “Prepare for weathering the storm”. According to a Department of Homeland Security memo, they expect asylum requests to reach 1,000 per day. However, many Border Patrol Agents are concerned they don’t have the capacity for that many people and are not given any guidance on how to deal with the increase in processing. Housing facilities are not equipped to deal with the influx, and illegals can claim asylum. One agent stated:

The facilities we have are not designed to accommodate large numbers of people. These are temporary housing facilities. We will then process the migrants under immigration law. This governs their deportation, detention, etc. Asylum law in the United States allows migrants to seek asylum even if they enter illegally.

Biden’s administration has a history of not showing any interest or direction in the impending chaos, according to many agents. Joe Biden visited El Paso in January during a period of low border crossings and a severe cold snap. Hundreds of illegals had been forced to sleep in freezing temperatures on the street and were essentially setting up camps because of the overflow of city services. El Paso’s Democrat mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency due to the surge. Biden was shocked when city streets were emptied of migrants prior to his visit. He responded, “What crisis?” The Biden administration, in an effort to deal with what DHS claims will be an influx of approximately 14,000 migrants per day at the border.

This will not stop the invasion that Border Patrol knows is coming. They also know that the Biden Administration is unwilling and unable to provide them with the resources and assistance they need. One border agent put what many fear into words, saying:

Title 42 is about to come to an end. The Biden Administration is not aware of how bad things are going to be. We barely have enough manpower to actively patrol the border. All of our resources and manpower will be devoted to processing when Title 42 ends. I believe that fieldwork will almost cease to exist.

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