O’Rourke criticizes Biden over ending Title 42 without plan for migrants

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke on Tuesday criticized the Biden administration’s termination of Title 42, arguing that it shouldn’t have done so without a clear-cut plan of how to deal with the influx of migrants.

“It does not make sense to end this until there is a real plan and the capacity in place to handle those and address those that come over,” O’Rourke told The Texas Tribune.

“I have yet to hear a plan from the Biden administration to address the dynamic we will have on the border once Title 42 ends.”

Title 42 is a public health rule that was enacted by former President Trump during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic. The rule allowed the rapid expulsion of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border and blocked them from seeking asylum.

President Biden recently announced he would be rescinding the rule, following pressure from some Democrats and immigration advocates.

O’Rourke supported the removal of Title 42 in the past, according to the Tribune. The former Democratic congressman has pushed for a different system for asylum claims that won’t overwhelm border control staff.

O’Rourke also said border staff are concerned that the Biden administration will leave them high and dry without a concrete plan to deal with the shift in the number of migrants at the southern border.

The Department of Homeland Security believes that after Title 42 is lifted, the border could face up to 18,000 migrants entering the U.S. per day, according to the Tribune.

“What it has done is produced a situation where the same person is crossing multiple times a week, and under Title 42 that Border Patrol agent simply turns that person back around and then that person tries to cross the next day,” O’Rourke told the Tribune.

“They’re not arrested, not detained, there are no consequences for someone who is not following our laws when they try to come into this country, and it means that this country is not following its laws when it comes to those who are trying to make a legitimate claim for asylum,” O’Rourke continued.

“Everyone is legitimately concerned about the lack of a plan. We should hold the federal government accountable for doing its job, and they’re not doing that.”

The administration said that the rule will officially end May 23.