Title 42

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced a new Texas Tactical Border Force ahead of the expiration of the Title 42 public health order, which helped block migrants from entering the U.S.

In response to "Joe Biden’s reckless border policies," the Texas National Guard is loading Black Hawk helicopters and C-130s, deploying specially trained national guard members to "hotspots along the border to intercept, to repel and to turn back migrants who are trying to enter Texas illegally," Abbott said at a press conference from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. 

There’s a lot of mention of “Title 42” lately. With it comes images of crowds of people crossing or on the banks of the Rio Grande, which divides the U.S. and Mexico. As it is expected to end Thursday, it might be a good time to understand what it's all about.

What is Title 42?

With the Trump-era border policy Title 42 set to expire next week, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are working on a stopgap border measure that would grant the Biden administration a temporary, two-year extension to expel migrants from the United States.

A Sinema aide told Politico that the bill being proposed by the bipartisan pair is functionally different from Title 42 in that it does not rely on a public health order to deny asylum and migration claims.

Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I., Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) plan to propose a replacement to the Trump-era Title 42 program, which expires on May 11.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) told reporters Wednesday the program’s end is “like being hit by a slow-moving truck in Kansas.”

The Biden administration is deploying 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border to provide operational support to U.S. immigration authorities as they grapple with a sharp increase in migrant crossings ahead of the termination of pandemic-era migration restrictions, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday.

President Biden is sending 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border, while cities across the country are declaring states of emergency and asking for federal support as the country prepares for a surge of migration expected to accompany the lifting of Title 42 border restrictions next week.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday agreed to send 1,500 US soldiers to the Mexico border at the Biden administration’s request — though only to perform administrative tasks with Title 42 set to end next week.

“For 90 days, these 1,500 military personnel will fill critical capability gaps, such as ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support, until [Border Patrol agents] can address these needs through contracted support,” said Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

House Republicans introduced their border security bill Tuesday that seeks to restrict illegal immigration and increase law enforcement capabilities along the southern border.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it will set up migrant processing centers in Latin America, increase deportations and expand legal migration pathways in a bid to reduce the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully.

The moves are part of the administration's effort to reduce and slow migration to the U.S.-Mexico border, where officials are preparing to discontinue a pandemic-era policy known as Title 42 that has allowed them to swiftly expel migrants over 2.7 million times since March 2020 without processing their asylum claims.