The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly preparing for what could be the largest surge of migrants in the nation’s history if Title 42 COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asked whether the department was ready for a worst-case scenario of 350,000 to 400,000 immigrants crossing the southern border in October, according to two DHS officials familiar with the conversation, NBC News reported on Thursday.
The number would be up to twice as high as the 200,000-plus illegal immigrants who crossed the southern border in both July and August.
The preparations are underway as a Trump-era policy called Title 42 faces a possible end this week. The rule has allowed Border Patrol to turn away illegal immigrants at the border due to their threat of spreading COVID-19.
On Sept. 16, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled the policy did not give the Biden administration authority to stop migrants from crossing the nation’s southern border. The policy was set to go into effect in 14 days on Sept. 30.
The ruling is under appeal and it is uncertain if it ruling will go into effect.
Concerns have grown as up to 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants gathered under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, drawing a national spotlight on migrant caravans traveling to America.
In July, a charity in the border town of La Joya, Texas, reportedly rented an entire hotel to house illegal immigrants who tested positive for COVID-19, giving no notification to the local community.
Fox News State Department correspondent Rich Edson tweeted at the time, “Police in La Joya, TX, a Border town, announce a charity has rented an entire hotel here for COVID-positive migrants. They say they only found out when a family, showing symptoms and staying there, ate at a restaurant next door. A customer flagged down a police officer.”
Police in La Joya, TX, a Border town, announce a charity has rented an entire hotel here for COVID-positive migrants. They say they only found out when a family, showing symptoms and staying there, ate at a restaurant next door. A customer flagged down a police officer.
— Rich Edson (@RichEdsonDC) July 28, 2021
A later post added, “They’re advising La Joya to mask up and distance.”
They’re advising La Joya to mask up and distance. pic.twitter.com/VYjMNZnYVC
— Rich Edson (@RichEdsonDC) July 28, 2021
The community later had to resort to a larger camp as the COVID-19 cases among immigrants increased.
Number of New Illegals in ’21 Greater Than Populations of 11 States
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republican senators introduced a bill in July to extend Title 42.
The Securing the Homeland from International Entrants with Life-threatening Diseases, or SHIELD, Act would continue the public health protections enacted in March 2020, according to Fox News.Does the Biden administration care about COVID-19 spreading among migrants?Yes No
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Cruz said, “Title 42 has been an integral and extremely successful measure to protect America’s borders and our people during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“If the Biden-Harris policy for open borders is intended to reverse the Trump administration’s success in securing our border, encourage illegal immigration and create an unprecedented crisis, it’s certainly working,” he added.
According to a June Axios report, the Biden administration originally wanted to eliminate Title 42 by the end of July.