DHS preparing for as many as 18,000 migrants per day after lifting of Title 42, Mayorkas says

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Sunday that his agency is preparing for as many as 18,000 migrants daily after the lifting of Title 42, an order allowing authorities to swiftly expel migrants at U.S. land borders. 

“What we do is we prepare and we plan, and we’ve been doing so for months understanding that the Title 42 authority that the CDC holds is not going to be around forever because, quite frankly, we want to conquer the pandemic and put it behind us,” Mayorkas said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

“Title 42 is a public health authority. So what we started to do in September of last year was prepare for its end. … We’re not projecting 18,000, but what we do in the department is we plan for different scenarios, so we’re ready for anything,” Mayorkas added. 

When host Dana Bash asked if the Department of Homeland Security would be ready to handle 18,000 migrants crossing the border daily, Mayorkas replied that the department would be prepared, adding that the system could be strained. 

“It is our responsibility to be prepared for different scenarios, and that is what we are doing, and we have incredibly talented and dedicated people. There is no question [if] in fact we reach that number, that is going to be an extraordinary strain on our system,” Mayorkas told Bash. 

“That is why the plan we have prepared calls for a number of different actions, not just in the domestic arena but also with our partners in the south,” he added.  

This comes as Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed for rapid expulsion of migrants without allowing them to seek asylum, is set to be rolled back on May 23.

–Updated at 1:26 p.m.