Title 42 ends: Changing immigration policy, processing migrants
"The border is not open, it has not been open, and it will not be open subsequent to May 11," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
"Let me be clear, the lifting of the Title 42 public health order does not mean our border is open," he said on another occasion.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ‘WHAT’S YOUR POINT?'
It's a time-tested adage. If you repeat a claim long enough, there's somebody who's going to believe you.
The trouble for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lies in the visuals – the swarms of folks from all over the globe amassed on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, bound and determined to cross. The sheer number of those plotting entry, dwarfing the collective manpower fielded by the Border Patrol.
Processing immigrants arriving at the southern border
Even if every undocumented individual arriving at the border surrenders to federal authorities, the Biden administration does not have the sheltering facilities in place to house them. The only alternative is to process and release them on a promise that they will contact immigration authorities at some point in the future. The What's Your Point? panel weighs in on immigration processing.
Bottom line, with or without permission, those who traveled to the very brink of America aren't going back, and the president of the United States has simply not ordered the force necessary to deter them, publicly conceding that it's going to be "chaotic for a while."
The Biden administration says the COVID-era Title 42 will be replaced by enforcement of Title 8, which carries the potential for criminal prosecution, deportation and a five-year ban on re-entry.
The What's Your Point? panel weighs in on the end of Title 42, the processing of migrants arriving at the border, and the situation in border counties that have declared a state of emergency.
Texas counties declare state of emergency over immigration
Multiple Texas counties have issued disaster declarations in the face of an unprecedented influx of undocumented foreign nationals, which is putting pressure on their local law enforcement, healthcare safety nets, public schools, indigent food aid and affordable housing. In the past, immigration and border security have been purely federal responsibilities.