Though Title 42 no longer ends Monday, Border Patrol is still “all hands on deck” as they prepare for an influx of migrants over the next few weeks.
Migrants from Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba and Nicaragua continued to pour across the southern border via the Rio Grande River at Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sunday afternoon. However, the number of those crossing the border is much lower than it has been at this particular border crossing in recent months.
A Texas National Guard soldier told in Eagle Pass on Sunday that those patrolling the border still expect influxes this week, although Title 42 will remain in place.
He said he wasn’t sure migrants were even aware that the directive would no longer be repealed.
Some speculate that the less busy crossing site is due to Mexican police patrolling the Piedras Negras area on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande on Sunday – and claim that it had no particular connection to a change in Title 42 guidelines .
Others claim that migrants from Central America who have been waiting in Mexico for months decided to cross the border on Monday and are not changing their plans, even though US policy is no longer changing.
A Texas National Guard soldier moves a barbed wire barrier along the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River to allow entry into Eagle Pass, Texas, for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. on Sunday, May 22, 2022
Title 42 is not scheduled to end Monday, May 23, 2022 after a federal judge in Louisiana stayed the administration’s move. Pictured: A group of migrants fold their arms as they cross the Rio Grande River from Piedras Negras to seek asylum in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sunday, May 22
A group of more than 50 migrants wait along the US side of the Rio Grande River on Sunday to be transported to a processing center in Eagle Pass, Texas
Title 42 was scheduled to end on Monday, May 23, 2022, but a federal judge in Louisiana issued an injunction Friday preventing the government from ending the policy.
Pandemic-era policies were enacted under then-President Donald Trump in March 2020 to quell mass migration at the southern border at the start of the coronavirus crisis. Controlled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Title 42 allows for immediate deportation of migrants without officials having to hear asylum applications during a public health emergency.
All border protection agencies dealing with illegal immigration fall under Title 8 – not Title 42.
Title 42 has stopped 1.7 million illegal immigrants since the pandemic began. Human Rights First found that 10,200 of them — or 0.006 percent — of those deported to Mexico under the law were kidnapped, raped, tortured, or violently assaulted.
When the CDC announced last month that it would drop Title 42 after more than two years, it was immediately met with backlash from Republicans, national security hawks and even some Democrats who claimed they were leaving the border wide open to illegal immigration.
Many also argued that there was no point in repealing Title 42 while the US is still in an active declared state of emergency due to COVID-19.
A few migrants from Colombia become entangled in barbed wire and barbed wire after entering the United States from Mexico on Sunday May 22, 2022
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials made 234,088 stops at the Mexico border in April, a new high for the Biden administration and a 22-year high overall, and a 5.8% increase from March’s 221,303 encounters
Migrants are being told to remove the laces from their sneakers as they wait to be taken to a processing center after entering the US
Migrants continued to pour into the United States via Eagle Pass from Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba and Nicaragua on Sunday
Both Democrats and Republicans support legislation that would keep Title 42 in place until all pandemic-era restrictions are lifted in the US, Canada and Mexico — and when the US emergency order ends
Judge Robert Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana on Friday ruled on a temporary stay for Biden’s end of Title 42 restrictions after a lawsuit was filed and signed by two dozen Republican-led states.
Judge Summerhays, a Trump-appointed judge, issued an injunction over the Biden administration’s move to end the restriction in response to the lawsuit brought by Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri.
The lawsuit argues that the CDC violated the Administrative Procedures Act by not providing a notice and comment period for the Title 42 repeal plan. The law in question also prohibits moves deemed “arbitrary and capricious.”
Plaintiffs also allege that the Biden administration failed to consider the additional costs to states — particularly border states — of allowing more migrants into the United States
Couples, individuals and families crossed the Rio Grande River under the Eagle Pass International Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
Internal projections say migration will triple after Title 42 ends, and other estimates suggest it could increase to 18,000 transitions per day from the current 8,000.
While Title 42 no longer ends Monday as previously planned, Border Patrol agents and National Guards helping patrol the border still expect an onslaught of crossings in the coming week.
Soldiers from the Texas Army National Guard patrolled several areas in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sunday, claiming they are shouldering the brunt of the work there because border patrol is understaffed by at least half. did not see Border Patrol agents patrolling the border at some popular border crossings in Eagle Pass, but did see some Texan Police pickup trucks patrolling the area.
Migrant families travel together along a barbed wire fence to morph into Texas National Guardsmen who help patrol the border amid massive understaffing of Border Patrol agents — particularly in Eagle Pass
A National Guard soldier looks through binoculars to see more migrants crossing the Rio Grande River after picking up two migrants from Colombia in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sunday, May 22, 2022
A soldier told that while the Eagle Pass border crossings need about 400 CBP agents, only 250 are stationed there. Another soldier said the overwhelmed immigration officers are actively recruiting National Guard members to try to get them to join Homeland Security immigration officers.
Many are unsure what to expect on Monday morning with Title 42 still left.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to tour the border at Eagle Pass on Sunday before holding a security briefing and news conference about the ongoing crisis.
Some Texas National Guard soldiers say they have been stationed at the border since October and claim there are no signs their post will end anytime soon.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials made 234,088 stops at the Mexico border in April, a 5.8 percent increase from the 221,303 encounters in March. Last month’s number also represents a new high for the Biden administration and a 22-year high on the southern border.
A pregnant woman, who moments ago crossed the waist-high Rio Grande River, watches as a border guard signs migrants before they are taken to a processing center where they seek asylum the day before the previous Title 42 deadline