Title 42 Expires While Immigrants Continue to Pour in Unchecked

by Mindy Cohn

Title 42, implemented in March of 2020 with its pandemic-era asylum restrictions, ended at midnight Thursday, leaving illegal aliens swarming northern Mexico uncertain about the new online system for appointments for those seeking asylum in the U.S. but willing to press their luck.

Title 42, put in place in March of 2020,  allowed border officials to send asylum seekers back across the border to prevent the spread of COVID.

As the new reality Friday morning on the border, illegals were still making last-ditch efforts to cross a border lined with both barbed wire and troops.

While Title 42 stood, there were no legal consequences for seeking asylum in the U.S., leading to endless repeat attempts by illegals hoping to slip through. As of  Friday morning, illegals barred from entering the U.S. will not be allowed to try again for five years, and if they do, they can face possible criminal prosecution.

In a bid to get migrants to stop illegals from attempting to sneak into the U.S. and in a bid to cut out smugglers who are still insisting that the U.S. borders are open in a last-gasp effort to remain in business, the new system is expected to redirect migrants to seek asylum elsewhere.

In a change in tactics, illegal aliens are now desperately trying to book an online asylum appointment through theU.S. Customs and Border Protection app. Only 1,000 migrants per month will be able to gain appointments to be processed through the app. 

Biden admitted that the border would be chaotic for a while. Border Patrol stopped 10,000 migrants on Tuesday, which is near twice the average daily level recorded in March, but it is less than the  11,000 figure that border authorities have said is what they expect after Title 42 ends. 

Despite border holding facilities being filled beyond capacity, U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell put a two-week halt to the administration's policy of releasing illegals with notices to report to an immigration office in 60 days. This release mechanism was applied when holding centers reached 125% capacity, where illegals are held for an average of 60 hours, or when authorities stopped 7,000 or more illegals along the border in a day. Weatherell scheduled a May 19 hearing on whether to extend his two-week order.

On Wednesday, a new rule was introduced by Homeland Security, making it more challenging for asylum seekers who first traveled through another country or did not apply online to qualify. Additionally,  curfews with GPS tracking was introduced for those released in the U.S. before initial asylum screenings.

The ACLU immediately attempted to block the new asylum policy restricting asylum for migrants who traveled through another country, arguing that the new rules are an attempt to "resuscitate and combine the illegal features of the two previous asylum bans" struck down by federal judges earlier.

Despite the new stricter measures, the administration has also introduced expansive new legal pathways to migrate into the country. A monthly cap of 30,000 migrants coming from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela can do so if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport. To facilitate the annual allowance of 360,000 new migrants, processing centers are now open in Guatemala, Colombia, and elsewhere. This is in addition to the 1,000 migrants a month who can enter daily by land crossings from Mexico if they manage to get an appointment on the online app.

All in all, the migrant crisis is nowhere near over, and despite the alleged stricter measures, the flow of illegal aliens continues to flow unabated.