Texas Border Crossings Could Go Into Overdrive as Abbott Faces Pressure

Migrant crossings at the Texas border may be set to skyrocket exponentially within days amid the end of Title 42, a COVID-era policy which has limited asylum claims there.

Pressure has been heaped on the state's embattled governor, Greg Abbott, to tackle the increasing influx of people seeking entry into the U.S. from Mexico. And even though Title 42 is not due to expire until December 21, the numbers already appear to be rising.

One of the largest mass crossings in living memory was caught on camera at the weekend, with a huge caravan of well over 1,000 migrants filing into the country at El Paso, Texas.

Many of those seeking entry said they were from Nicaragua, Peru or Ecuador, according to reports.

Title 42 is an old public health law that allows authorities to stop people from entering the U.S. from foreign countries where there is "the existence of any communicable disease" that could be spread to Americans.

The policy was enforced by former President Donald Trump's administration from March 2020 amid the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics claimed a health policy was being used as a blunt tool to prevent U.S. migration, and it was subject to growing criticism for its continued existence after other COVID-19 measures were dropped.

Since it was implemented almost three years ago, by last month Title 42 had been used almost 2.5 million times to turn back migrants.

Republican Abbott has been one of the fiercest critics of cutting Title 42, bitterly fighting to keep the policy running. He claimed Texas has been "overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the Biden administration."

In April, he famously vowed to bus the migrants entering Texas to Washington D.C. so the administration could deal with them.

On Title 42, he added: "Ending Title 42 expulsions will signal to cartels and migrants alike that our southern border is now wide open—inciting even more violence, more trafficking and more lawlessness."

Abbott is facing his own political pressures on the issue.

Other Republicans have criticized him for not treating the weekend's mass influx as an illegal "invasion." And he lost the support of El Paso, the county with the highest number of border crossings, when he was re-elected last month.

Newsweek has reached out to Abbott for comment.

But Republicans are not alone in demanding the continuation of Title 42. Some Democrats were critical of the move to drop it, including Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema (although Sinema recently announced she was leaving the Democrats to become an independent).

However, some experts claim the end of the policy will actually make little discernible difference on the ground.

Speaking back in April, upon news Biden planned to scrap Title 42 this year, Dr. Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute at Rice University, told Newsweek: "The numbers have not gone down [with Title 42 in place]. The numbers are high anyway. So what's the surge at this point? That's just the new normal."

This weekend's mass border crossing (which happened with Title 42 still active) seems to bear out his claims.

But, he added, scrapping the policy may well have a psychological effect on those thinking about migrating. He said: "It's a tough balance, because by ending Title 42 as an immigration enforcement tool, you're also perhaps sending a message that the border is now open. So, some critics argue that will result in a surge; that immigrants will take the message the wrong way and [believe] that the border is now open."

Newsweek has reached out to Payan for further comment.

Other experts have indeed warned that lifting Title 42 will result in a sharp spike in those seeking asylum.

Border Patrol sources, speaking anonymously, told Fox News last month that they fear the move will lead to a fresh wave of migrants trying to get into the U.S. on the belief that they are now less likely to be removed.

And an unnamed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told ABC News that authorities were planning for a potential uptick in the numbers, saying: "I think it's unclear what the impact of Title 42 potentially lifting in the coming days, weeks or months would be on migratory flows, but we need to be prepared to consider a potential contingency, which is that the lifting of Title 42 could increase flows. That is definitely part of this planning process."

Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment. Press secretary Jen Psaki has previously insisted the DHS has a "comprehensive" plan to tackle any increase in numbers.

"Title 42 is not an immigration policy. That's the point," she said. "It's a public health authority... So, if we want to address immigration, let's have a conversation about that. But let's not hold COVID funding hostage because we're going to have to end a range of programs that going to hurt the American people. That's the issue."