WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2023) The United States is bracing for the possibility that the ongoing surge of migrants arriving on the US border with Mexico will intensify after Title 42 expires late Thursday night at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
Title 42, the Trump-era public health emergency order imposed in March 2020, allowed the US government to turn away illegal immigrants at the border to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"We are clear eyed about the challenges we are likely to face in the days and weeks ahead, which have the potential to be very difficult," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Wednesday. "Even after nearly two years of preparation, we expect to see large numbers of encounters at our southern border in the days and weeks after May 11."
The high number of migrants arriving on the US southern border is placing a very significant strain on law enforcement personnel, facilities, and border communities dealing with the border crisis, Mayorkas added.
Last week, a Sputnik correspondent reported that more than 1,700 migrants were gathered for several days outside a church in downtown El Paso, Texas, that had easily reached the church's capacity. The Biden administration said it distributed $250 million to border communities directly impacted by the border crisis.
President Joe Biden admitted earlier this week that the US southern border will be chaotic after Title 42 expires,, but it remains to be seen if the United States is prepared to deal with the potential worsening of the border crisis.
US immigration enforcement agencies and border communities are already overwhelmed by tens of thousands of migrants that have arrived along the US-Mexico border this week.
On Monday, US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said more than 26,000 migrants have been apprehended on the US southern border over the last three days. More than 10,300 migrants crossed illegally the border on Tuesday, media reported.
There are reportedly tens of thousands of migrants waiting in Mexico to cross into the United States after Thursday. CBS news reported, citing US government data, between 11,000 and 13,000 daily migrant arrivals are expected after Title 42 expires.
US Congressman Tony Gonzales's office confirmed to Sputnik earlier in the day that Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said the White House was ignoring his warning calls about a group of 80,000 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, making their way to the United States.
On Wednesday, Mayorkas said the United States finalized a rule that will impose harsher consequences for migrants that illegally enter the United States. The rule presumes that those who do not use lawful pathways to enter the United States are ineligible for asylum and authorizes deportations of migrants who do not establish a reasonable fear of persecution in their country.
Migrants who do not claim fear of persecution will be deported immediately, and migrants that do claim fear of persecution will encounter a higher threshold under the new asylum rule, unless they have accessed lawful pathways or sought relief in another country and been denied.
The US State Department plans to eventually open 100 regional processing centers throughout the Western Hemisphere, which will be used to screen migrants for eligibility for US refugee resettlement or other lawful pathways to the United States, Canada, and Spain.
The United States is also accepting up to 30,000 individuals per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti as part of the expanded parole processes announced earlier this year.
After Title 42 ends, migrants will be subject to deportation under an authority known as Title 8, which may punish illegal migrants with a five year bar on re-entry into the United States or criminal prosecution if a migrant attempts another unlawful entry into the country.
US immigration enforcement agencies are ramping up deportation flights and efforts to counter misinformation from human smugglers profiting off migrants heading to the US southern border.
The US Defense Department is deploying more than 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border to support US Customs and Border Protection personnel as they deal with the influx of migrants. The first 550 troops arrived in El Paso on Wednesday to help alleviate the surge that that sector is currently experiencing. However, US troops do not conduct law enforcement activity. The United States already had 2,500 National Guard troops deployed along the southern border.
Senior Biden administration officials told reporters the Mexican government is deploying law enforcement personnel to its border with Guatemala to try to deter the number of US-bound migrants.
According to Mayorkas, the administration's policies to deter migrants will deliver results, but it will take time to see the results.
An all-time record number of migrants has arrived at the US southern border under the Biden administration, hitting two consecutive records in 2021 and 2022, exceeding 2.3 million people. In fiscal year 2023, the US authorities said they have encountered more than 1.2 million migrants. Fox News and other media outlets have said the number of illegal immigrants that entered the United States since Biden assumed office has exceeded six million.
