The Biden administration should, in the coming days, announce the end of a measure against Covid that ended up being used to contain immigration via the border with Mexico.
The rule, dubbed “Title 42”, refers to a clause in the Public Health Act that allows the government to deny entry to foreigners during health emergencies. At the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, then-President Donald Trump triggered the rule, which causes immigrants seeking asylum in the US to be barred at the border, before they can even apply.
In many cases, expulsion takes place hours after capture, without the immigrant being able to claim anything.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said a decision on whether or not to keep the measure would be made soon. Government officials, interviewed anonymously by Reuters, the New York Times and CNN, said the measure should be repealed. Kate Bedingfield, communications director at the White House, said she expected a big spike in the flow of immigrants after the measure was withdrawn, if confirmed.
One of the reasons for this is that some of those denied access are likely to try to apply for asylum once the rules change. Many of them stayed in Mexico while they waited, but in a difficult situation, as they were also not allowed to work or reside on Mexican soil.
According to a study by the NGO Human Rights First, about 10,000 people who were stopped at the border with Mexico through Title 42 ended up being tortured, kidnapped, raped or victims of other types of violence.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) said it was completing its review of the rule and that it should release new information by the end of this week. The expectation is that the measure will end at the end of May, so that the government can prepare for a possible increase in the flow of people.
According to data obtained by the Reuters agency, about 5,000 people have been caught a day trying to cross the border. Border officials say the lifting of the health measure could raise that number to between 12,000 and 18,000 travelers.
Since last year, there has been a sharp rise in the number of immigrants trying to enter the US illegally. In fiscal 2021, there were 1.7 million barred immigrants, a record. Of these, at least 938,000 were contained based on the sanitary measure. The rule was also used to deport Brazilian children.
To deal with the discharge, DHS plans to build more accommodation and detention centers at the border, as well as creating a model for asylum applications to be made online, with an appointment for the person concerned to appear at a border post. .
The rationale for adopting Title 42 was that keeping immigrants in crowded shelters would increase the risk of spreading the disease as well as the virus entering the country. However, at the beginning of the year, the US has been withdrawing virtually all measures to combat Covid. The mandatory use of masks and the limitation to agglomerations were left behind in almost all situations.
Human rights organizations, as well as some Democratic politicians, point out that the rule goes against US legislation, which gives foreigners the right to apply for asylum in cases of political persecution, among other situations, and to have their request analyzed.
Anti-immigration politicians, especially Republicans, say that many foreigners take advantage of the law to seek asylum unnecessarily. Before, it was possible to wait for the analysis of the process inside the United States, often in freedom. The Trump administration has ordered applicants to wait for a response at shelters in Mexico. This program was maintained by Biden, after US court decisions.
Biden was elected on the promise of making border control more humane. Trump, who preceded him, put the fight against immigration as a priority and sought to make it difficult for foreigners to enter in various ways, including separating children from their parents.
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