The US and Mexico are scrambling for tighter, meaningful border restrictions as the end of Title 42 looms. Title 42 was a Trump Administration ruling which allowed for border security to turn away potential asylum seekers and illegal immigrants in the interest of preventing the spread of Covid-19 within the detainment facilities and into the country.
The measure was supposed to end in late December 2022, with President Biden promising to roll back the measure as part of his presidential campaign. However, the policy has continued to be implemented, as the courts have continued to be locked in a stalemate on what to do going forward.
Homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday and emerged with a five-point plan to solve the issue of an influx of people coming to the border. Key to this agreement is Mexico’s decision to continue to receive migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba who have turned away at the border, and up to 100,000 individuals from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador will be eligible to live and work there if they have family in the U.S.
The White House is also deploying 1,500 troops to the border for added support, as well as measures to ease the path to legal immigration. To the point of using the active military to crack down on the border, the Biden administration has faced criticism from the media and GOP, as this measure mirrors one that Former President Donald J Trump took during his presidency. The measure was criticized by Biden at the time.
There will also be stiffer penalties for those who cross illegally; and swifter vetting of asylum seekers to assess their eligibility for admittance into the United States.
These helpful first steps are key to Biden making good on his campaign promise to solve the border crisis ahead of his reelection campaign, as well as give an ear to the plight of the personnel on the border, hopefully deterring illegal border crossings as the courts mete out a deal.
