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White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Wednesday appears to have ruled out the Biden administration’s postponement of the removal of Title 42 next month.
The Trump-era public health order has allowed US authorities to return most migrants, including asylum seekers. It expires on May 23.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki spoke at a White House press briefing on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
Asked on Wednesday whether the Biden administration was considering postponing the removal of Title 42, Psaki said: “We are planning and preparing for the end of Title 42 on May 23.”
Another reporter asked if there was a plan to provide additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as it was tackling the increase in illegal border crossings leading to and after the expiry of Title 42.
FILE: An employee of the Texas Public Security Department in Del Rio, Texas, is leading a group of migrants who have crossed the border and surrendered. (AP Photo / Eric Gay, File)
Psaki said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a number of options, but did not stop suggesting that there were more funds.
These options, Psaki said, include “prioritizing and reallocating existing funds, requiring additional support from other federal agencies if necessary (and) engaging with Congress on this discussion.”
Ohio’s Tim Ryan was one of several Democrats to break with Biden in the 42nd title this week.
“The administration’s decision to repeal Title 42 is wrong and reckless,” Ryan told Fox News. “Prematurely ending this policy without a way forward does nothing to keep Americans safe, to support our border patrol agents, to protect asylum seekers, or to bring about the overall adjustment our immigration system needs.
BORDER PATROL DOES NOT USE TITLE 42 TO EXPELL SOME MIGRANTS FROM THE NORTH TRIANGLE BEFORE THE END OF MAY 23: SOURCES
Later Wednesday, Nevada Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak wrote to Biden, warning that repealing Title 42 without a detailed plan would “create chaos on our border” and place a heavier burden on families trying to enter. legally in the United States.
“Our country cannot endure a new humanitarian crisis on the US-Mexico border,” Sisolak said. “Abolishing this policy without a comprehensive mitigation plan should not be our way forward.
Migrants have tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border at the highest level in two decades as the United States prepares for even more with the expected lifting of an order from the pandemic era that rejects asylum seekers.
Immigrant men from many countries were detained by US border patrols on the US-Mexico border on December 7, 2021 in Yuma, Arizona. (John Moore / Getty Images)
The number of meetings with migrants has increased almost every month since President Joe Biden took office. Immigration authorities stopped migrants 221,303 times at the southwestern border in March, up 33 percent from a month earlier, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released Monday.
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The number of illegal crossings or those outside official ports of entry totaled 209,906 in March, surpassing Biden’s previous presidency peak of 200,658, set in July, and the highest level since March 2000, when it reached 220,063.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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