As Title 42 is set to end at 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday, border security officials are experiencing a much higher influx of migrants seeking asylum along the southern border of the United States.
For over three years, the Covid-19 pandemic halted the acceptance of asylum applications, with health emergency measures allowing for the quick expulsion of migrants at the border.
However, with the end of Title 42, tens of thousands of asylum seekers and people who have been waiting in Mexico after fleeing from violence, poverty, and political instability will now be subjected to the old immigration protocols known as Title 8.
Under Title 8, individuals cannot be turned away or deported without screening for asylum claims. That essentially means they’ll enter the country and be placed in detention centers as they go through a process called expedited removal, which includes a credible fear interview.
Those who are deemed to have valid claims will be allowed to stay in the country as their cases pass their way through immigration court. Those who are not will be deported.
The longer processing times, regardless of the number of people actually taken in, will result in a bottleneck at ports of entry and congestion in detention centers that will put be an increased source of expenditure for federal, state, and local government.
Already, as of Wednesday morning, about 28,000 migrants were in custody — far above official capacity.
However, though the return of Title 8 might be an additional lifeline for thousands of migrants who have been stuck in overcrowded shelters or have been living on the streets of Mexican border cities, it comes with stiffer penalties for migrants caught trying to cross the border illegally.
The penalty might include a five-year ban on entry to the U.S., as well as prosecution.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration finalized a new rule that severely limits asylum for those who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through.
The new law, though it will likely be challenged, might checkmate spikes in migrants seeking asylum and save help the U.S. save costs.
The U.S. Department of State said it will open about 100 regional processing centers around the Western Hemisphere, where migrants could apply for resettlement to the U.S., Canada, or Spain, with two hubs already opening soon in Guatemala and Colombia.
Though no specific dates were given for the launch, a new online platform will also be created for individuals to make appointments to arrive at a center near them.
The United States has also said it will continue to admit 30,000 migrants a month from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua, as long as they have applied online and have secured a financial sponsor. Mexico also has agreed to continue taking back the same number who cross illegally.
The administration also said a new program called the Family Expedited Removal Management will be created to help track migrant families who are seeking asylum and are released in the United States. It would allow immigration officials to track the head of the household via a monitoring device and require a curfew.
Currently, about 1,500 active-duty military troops are deployed on the border as a backup for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. They are in addition to about 24,000 law enforcement officers and 2,500 National Guard troops are already there.
