After more than two years, the Biden administration is rescinding the Title 42 order put into place under former President Donald Trump at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump, mayors along the U.S.-Mexico border and Republicans in DC are fuming over the decision. 

“With this foolhardy plan to end Title 42, Biden will be opening the floodgates to a far greater extent than even now, and we would be deluged by illegal immigration like no country has witnessed or had to endure,” the former president said during an April 2 rally in Washington, WI. 

What is Title 42?

Title 42 is part of section 265 of the 1944 Public Health Services Law. It authorizes federal health agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take necessary steps to reduce the spread of any diseases. 

With the help of the CDC, the Trump administration used this clause in the law to make it difficult for migrants both legal and illegal to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Republicans predict chaos at the border

“This is going to cause massive injury to migrants, cartels empowered, Americans endangered, fentanyl going across our border,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said in a speech on the House floor. “All because the secretary [of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra] refuses to do his job.”

Title 42 not supported by medical experts

While touted as an emergency health measure to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, public health experts disagreed, saying it lacked “evidence or science.”

Olivia Troye, a former aide to former Vice President Mike Pence, told the Associated Press, “There was a lot of pressure on DHS and CDC to push this forward.”

Under Title 42, the Customs and Border Patrol has expelled more than 1.7 million migrants at the southern border, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Dems divided on the issue 

Several Democratic senators, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), have opposed doing away with Title 42.

“We are already facing an unprecedented increase in migrants this year, and that will only get worse if the administration ends the Title 42 policy,” he said in a statement. 

“For any critics, and any lawsuits, Title 42 is a public health directive,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing. “It’s not an immigration, migration enforcement measure. The decision on when to lift Title 42 was made by the CDC.”

Human Rights First and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. have long called for Title 42 to end, saying it violated migrants’ rights to seek asylum in the U.S.