As ‘Title 42’ is set to expire this Wednesday, bordering cities like El Paso, Texas have declared a state of emergency anticipating immigrant overflow.
The Trump-era policy, used to expel immigrants from entering the country via the US southern border, was implemented in March 2020. It uses Title 42 of the public health code to expel immigrants from the border, citing they would increase COVID-19 spread. After more than two years, this November a federal judge ruled that the policy will expire on December 21.
President Joe Biden ran his 2020 campaign vowing to lift the ban immediately while Republicans wanted it to continue—both were unsuccessful. It took until May this year for Biden to address the ban and the GOP’s effort for its retention was struck down by a federal appeals court last Friday.
Under Title 42, more than 2.5 million immigrants have been stopped from crossing the border since March 2020. With it expiring this Wednesday, a surge of 5,000 new migrants per day is expected.