After two years of inaction, the Biden Administration recently proposed plans to try to force asylum seekers to apply for asylum in the countries they hit before the U.S. More changes are coming. The Covid-19 national health order ends in less than two months. That will also mean an automatic end to a big border flashpoint: something called Title 42. Today we explain what that is and what comes next — as the number of illegal southwest border crossers is on pace to beat last year’s record, 2.4 million.
The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.” Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.
Title 42 lets Border Patrol quickly turn back illegal immigrants right at the border for public health reasons — in this case to reduce the risk of spreading Covid.
President Trump invoked Title 42 in March of 2020. He also installed “Migrant Protection Protocols,” forcing those seeking asylum to wait in Mexico, not the U.S. Those policies had a dramatic impact. By May of 2020, 90% of illegal immigrants caught at the border were being expelled. And the number intercepted dropped from about a million in 2019, to roughly half that in 2020.
But there’s been a radical shift back under President Biden who, as a candidate, promised he would encourage foreigners to come.
President Joe Biden (Sept. 12, 2019): I would in fact make sure that there is — that we immediately surge to the border all those people who are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard. That’s who we are. We’re a nation that says if you want to flee, and you’re fleeing oppression, you should come.
And come they have — like never before. Democrat Henry Cuellar is from the border state of Texas.
Sharyl: What is the status today at the border compared to what we saw six months, a year ago?
Rep. Henry Cuellar: You look at the first year under Biden, the second year under Biden, and you’re talking about over 4 million individuals in just two years, just two years. And that doesn’t include the getaways, which are the ones that get away. So you’re talking about historic numbers.
A year ago, Biden announced plans to halt Title 42. Republicans wanted to keep it, and the fight was headed to the Supreme Court. But since then, the president has said he’s ending the Covid emergency in May. The Title 42 turn-backs of illegal immigrants as an emergency health measure will go away too.
Cuellar: But then, Title 8 comes in.
What is Title 8? That’s another law that lets many illegal border crossers stay in the U.S. for years while their request for asylum is decided. The Biden administration has already switched to using more of Title 8 than the Title 42 immediate turnarounds.
Cuellar says Title 8, if used the right way, can discourage illegal immigration more than Title 42.
Cuellar: Because under Title 42, you expel, and they can come right back. Under Title 8, when you deport somebody, then you have a law that comes in where you can bar somebody for five years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, or lifetime barment, depending on the facts.
And there’s yet another factor now in play. Biden announced it in January during his only trip to the border as president. He expanded a policy that started with Venezuelans in October, to citizens of Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. To request asylum in the U.S., they must have a US sponsor, pass a background check, and apply from their home country or come through an official port of entry.
Cuellar: Basically, what they were saying is, if somebody’s going to be asking for asylum, they’ve got to do it the right way, orderly way, which means you go through a port of entry. If you come between a port of entry, then you will be returned. I told the secretary when he first announced this, before he announced it, that he should apply it to every country. That is, tell people, “Follow the orderly pathway, the right way, and you can get your day in court, or if you don’t, if you come in between ports of entry, then we will go ahead and return you.”
Sharyl: What are the odds, you think, they will expand it?
Cuellar: Well, they went from one country to four countries, so I’m hoping that if they see this success, that they will apply this. Look, if you’re going to pay an average of $6,000 to $8,000 a head —
Sharyl: To a smuggler to get you across?
Cuellar: — yeah, to a “coyote,” to a smuggler — if they come in and they see a speed bump, that is, they slap them, then they’re going to come in because it’s a speed bump. But if they see that there are consequences, and they could be returned, then that $8,000 or whatever they pay might be something they might want to think about, because it might not be worth coming in. Right now, it’s just a speed bump in many ways, so it’s worth spending $8,000.
Sharyl (on-camera): Separately, as part of the newest Biden administration policy, 360,000 people a year from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will be legally accepted to relocate to the U.S.
Watch story here.
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