(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) With Title 42 ending on May 11, Republican lawmakers are voicing alternatives on how the Biden administration can best solve the border crisis caused primarily by lax open border policies.
The Trump-era policy has been in place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and allows border patrol officials to expedite the removal of undocumented immigrants on grounds of a health emergency. Republicans say that lifting Title 42 would make the already crisis-ridden border worse.
The U.S. Senate has not been kind to President Biden’s open border policies in recent days.
“Title 42 is coming to an end because Biden doesn’t think we need it,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on an April 28 Tweet. “We need to keep Title 42 and make certain that we build the wall.”
Support for Title 42 was echoed by Marsha’s colleague Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.
“Drug overdose is the #1 killer of young Americans, yet the WH ignores the 70k overdose deaths annually due to fentanyl crossing our southern border,” Hagerty wrote on Twitter. “I’ve introduced the Stop Fentanyl Border Crossing Act to keep Title 42 in place & allow CBP to fight fentanyl trafficking.”
Drug overdose is the #1 killer of young Americans, yet the WH ignores the 70k overdose deaths annually due to fentanyl crossing our southern border.
I've reintroduced the Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act to keep Title 42 in place & allow CBP to fight fentanyl trafficking. pic.twitter.com/Uv8ianaCX2
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) April 26, 2023
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a vocal border security lawmaker, said “absolute chaos will ensure at the southern border” when Title 42 ends.
With the end of Title 42 looming – absolute chaos will ensue at our southern border.
President Biden doesn’t mind this, though. Every new illegal alien is a potential future Democratic voter.https://t.co/QOVmeCKSmJ
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 25, 2023
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, R-Ariz., broke away from the Democratic Party to voice concerns about the dangers of lifting Title 42.
“We led a hearing on the ongoing border and immigration crisis’s impact on Arizona border communities ahead of the administration’s ending of Title 42, which is expected to worsen the crisis,” the border-state Senator said in an April 27 tweet.
We led a hearing on the ongoing border and immigration crisis’s impact on Arizona border communities ahead of the administration’s ending of Title 42, which is expected to worsen the crisis. https://t.co/wL2915iuLr
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) April 27, 2023
Echoing Blackburn’s call to build a southern wall, Rep. Lance Gooden demanded that Biden stop wasting border materials.
“The Biden Administration spends $130,000 a day to store unused border wall materials,” he said on a Tweet. “With Title 42 ending, let’s stop wasting tax dollars and start building the wall.”
The Biden Administration spends $130,000 a day to store unused border wall materials.
With Title 42 ending, let's stop wasting tax dollars and start building the wall.
— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) April 29, 2023
Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., called on Congress to address crime resulting from the lax border policies.
“This week, DHS recorded 9,400 encounters at our border in a single day – a number which will only go up once Title 42 2ends next month,” Rutherford said in a tweet. “@POTUS must work with congress to address skyrocketing crime resulting from their open border policies before this crisis escalates further.”
This week, DHS recorded 9,400 encounters at our border in a single day – a number which will only go up once Title 42 ends next month.@POTUS must work with Congress to address skyrocketing crime resulting from their open border policies before this crisis escalates further. pic.twitter.com/DusQsmcxR4
— Rep. John Rutherford (@RepRutherfordFL) April 28, 2023
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, who unseated former Rep. Mayra Flores in 2022, raised concerns last year over Biden’s attempt to abruptly end Title 42 but called for a comprehensive immigration process to expel violent criminals from the U.S.
President Biden attempted to end Title 42 through an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but after receiving a lawsuit from GOP-led states, the administration opted to let the Trump-era policy expired on May 11.
Several conservative outlets, including the New York Post editorial board and the Washington Examiner have argued that the Biden’s border crisis is likely to worsen after the pandemic-era policy is halted.
