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House Republicans set to pass immigration bill ahead of Title 42 end
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Be they Republican or Democrat, Washington’s political leaders have for years failed find agreement on reforming the nation’s immigration system, despite saying the rules are badly in need of an overhaul. That basic fact does not seem set to change, even though today at midnight Title 42, a public health measure implemented by Donald Trump when the Covid-19 pandemic began that allowed migrants to be quickly expelled at the US border and blocked most asylum applications, expires. Joe Biden’s White House is bracing for what could be a surge of migrants along the frontier with Mexico, while Republicans are today expected to push a measure overhauling the US immigration system through the House of Representatives. It’s not expected to go anywhere in the Senate, but you can expect to hear a lot about immigration for the rest of this week.
Here’s what we expect to happen today:
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Homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will appear at the White House’s briefing to reporters along with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at 1pm eastern time.
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Besides Title 42, other provisions of the Covid-19 public health emergency end at midnight tonight, including vaccine requirements for federal employees and air travelers.
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Expect to hear more about the CNN town hall with Donald Trump last night, including debate over whether the network should have held it all, and reaction to the former president’s lies and opinions.
Key events
Whatever happens when Title 42 ends, the GOP is looking to make the most of it.
Today, the party will use its control of the House of Representatives to hold a vote on the Secure the Border Act, which would restart construction of the border wall Donald Trump tried to build, pay for more border patrol agents and reform the asylum system. Democrats, who have dubbed the legislation the “Child Deportation Act” are telling their lawmakers to vote against it. While it appears likely to pass the House, there’s little reason to believe it will make it through the Senate, which Democrats control.
Blaming Joe Biden for undocumented migration has become a cornerstone of the Republican platform since he took office, and polls indicate it’s not a bad strategy. On Wednesday, a Reuters/Ipsos survey showed a mere 26% of respondents approving of how the president has handled immigration.
On the senate floor today, the chamber’s top Republican Mitch McConnell again took the administration to task over the issue:
Now, as the Democrats finally give up the COVID state of emergency, Title 42 is finally going away. That wouldn’t pose a crisis for an Administration that was willing to get tough on its own and enforce existing immigration law. But Democrats don’t seem willing to do that. Just the opposite. President Biden’s team have designed a bizarre Rube Goldberg system that amounts to a special concierge service to help even more illegal immigrants come here even more easily.”
Here’s the latest from Reuters on how Washington is preparing for the end of Title 42, and the new rules it has put in place to discourage migrants from crossing the border illegally after it ends:
The US will lift Covid-19 border restrictions known as Title 42 on Thursday night, a major shift that has drawn tens of thousands of migrants to the US-Mexico border, straining local communities and intensifying political divisions.
The number of migrants caught crossing illegally has climbed in recent weeks, with daily apprehensions surpassing 10,000 on Monday and Tuesday. US border cities have struggled to shelter migrants and provide transportation to onward destinations.
The Biden administration is surging personnel and funds to the border while implementing a new regulation that will deny asylum to most migrants who cross illegally. The new measure will take effect when Title 42 ends along with the broad Covid public health emergency.
Last year, the Guardian’s Nina Lakhani took a close look at what exactly Title 42 meant for migrants who made it to the US southern border. With the policy ending in hours, it’s a story worth taking a look back at:
As hundreds of migrants line up along an Arizona border barrier at about 4am, agents try to separate them by nationality.
“Anyone from Russia or Bangladesh? I need somebody else from Russia here,” an agent shouts. Then, quietly, almost to himself, he says: “These are Romanian.”
It’s a routine task for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in this flat expanse of desert where the wall ends. People from at least 115 countries have been stopped here during the past year, with entire families from Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, India and Cameroon among those arriving in Yuma, south-west Arizona after wading through the perilous knee-deep Colorado River.
How Title 42 kept migrants out of America for three years
Donald Trump won the White House in 2016 with pledges to crack down on undocumented migrants and refugees. He had mixed success in that regard until March 2020, when the US government took unprecedented measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, including by implementing Title 42. Drawing from a federal law Congress passed in 1944, the policy allowed the United States to quickly expel migrants who turn up at its border seeking asylum, and has resulted in millions of expulsions over the past three years.
The policy ends at midnight tonight, and officials at the border worry a big influx of migrants could follow – which would be a liability to Joe Biden, who has been criticized both by the Republican opposition and migrant rights groups for his approach to immigration. In response, the homeland security department has passed new regulations that will penalize migrants who cross illegally.
Last week, the Guardian’s Alex Hinojosa reported on how El Paso, Texas, a major border crossing, is preparing for Title 42’s end:
House Republicans set to pass immigration bill ahead of Title 42 end
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Be they Republican or Democrat, Washington’s political leaders have for years failed find agreement on reforming the nation’s immigration system, despite saying the rules are badly in need of an overhaul. That basic fact does not seem set to change, even though today at midnight Title 42, a public health measure implemented by Donald Trump when the Covid-19 pandemic began that allowed migrants to be quickly expelled at the US border and blocked most asylum applications, expires. Joe Biden’s White House is bracing for what could be a surge of migrants along the frontier with Mexico, while Republicans are today expected to push a measure overhauling the US immigration system through the House of Representatives. It’s not expected to go anywhere in the Senate, but you can expect to hear a lot about immigration for the rest of this week.
Here’s what we expect to happen today:
-
Homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will appear at the White House’s briefing to reporters along with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at 1pm eastern time.
-
Besides Title 42, other provisions of the Covid-19 public health emergency end at midnight tonight, including vaccine requirements for federal employees and air travelers.
-
Expect to hear more about the CNN town hall with Donald Trump last night, including debate over whether the network should have held it all, and reaction to the former president’s lies and opinions.
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