🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
The Biden administration's plan to end a controversial immigration rule next month has sparked a fresh border battle with congressional Republicans, forcing President Joe Biden to defend his record on an issue that will be central to his now-official 2024 reelection campaign.
The administration is planning to lift the regulation, known as Title 42, on May 11, the date Biden has said he'll let the COVID-19 public health emergency expire.
Title 42 is an obscure provision of the Public Health Service Act of 1944, a law which was invoked by former President Donald Trump at the start of the pandemic in 2020 as a means to block most asylum seekers from entering the United States. Under Trump and Biden, more than 2 million people have been expelled from the U.S.-Mexico border using Title 42.
"It's long overdue," Sergio Gonzales, the executive director of The Immigration Hub, a leading advocacy group, said of lifting Title 42. "This is a good thing. Title 42 is not a normal policy that somehow became normalized. It caused a lot of harm to a lot of people."
But the plan to end Title 42 has already come under attack from Republicans, who argue that Biden's policies have led to an increase in migration and weaker security at the border.
This week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green introduced a bill to strengthen border security that served as a direct rebuke to the Biden administration.
Once Title 42 is lifted in two weeks, attention will turn immediately to the border and a potential rise in the number of people seeking entry into the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security released a plan Thursday for tackling migration after the Trump-era pandemic rule ends. The plan will impose stiffer penalties for migrants who cross the border illegally and expedite expulsions from the U.S., according to a DHS memo.
DHS did not respond to a request from Newsweek for comment for this story.
The new plan builds on months of preparation by the administration for the eventual lifting of Title 42. In January, Biden announced new initiatives aimed at curbing migration during a trip to the southern border.
The administration has also implemented other measures that have impacted the number of border crossings, such as a requirement that asylum seekers make an appointment at the border using an app run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The changes have already made a difference. Border patrol agents reported an average of 140,000 detentions of migrants a month in the first three months of 2023, down from a monthly average of 211,000 in the last quarter of 2022, CBP data shows.
If the trend continues, there could be a smaller surge once Title 42 is lifted than previous increases in border crossings seen under Biden, Trump and former President Barack Obama, said Denise Gilman, the director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
"There will be some increase in people trying to cross," Gilman said, "but there are still so many stringent measures in place that I expect we won't see huge numbers making their way into the U.S."
The fight over Title 42 highlights the challenge that Biden—and other presidents—have faced in tackling a complex, politically volatile issue that has no simple solutions.
Biden has made some reforms to the immigration system, such as expanding protections and legal pathways for some immigrants fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. The administration also tried to lift Title 42, but was blocked by the courts.
At the same time, Biden has drawn criticism from the left for not moving more swiftly to undo Trump's immigration policies, a potential problem for him in courting Democratic voters on a key issue as he starts to ramp up his reelection campaign.
Public polls also show voters from both parties disapprove of Biden's approach to immigration. A recent poll by The Immigration Hub and Voto Latino found 52 percent of voters believe Biden is ignoring problems at the border.
Voters also said they hear more from Republicans on the issue of immigration than Democrats, the poll found, suggesting Biden is being drowned out by a steady drumbeat of GOP messaging that the border is in crisis.
The Immigration Hub's Gonzales said comprehensive immigration solutions—beyond lifting Title 42—aren't easily reducible to campaign talking points.
"It's not an easy sound bite, like 'Build the wall,'" he said. "That's what makes it politically complicated."
About the writer
Daniel Bush is a Newsweek White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C. His focus is reporting on national politics and ... Read more