Border Apprehensions Soar As Title 42 Set To Expire

Apprehensions of illegal migrants along the nation’s southern border are skyrocketing as Title 42 immigration restrictions are set to expire this week.

An official with the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed these encounters spiked to over 9,000 per day recently on the southwestern border. That compares to 7,200 per day during December, the highest month during the Biden administration’s notorious open border regime.

Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas DPS told Breitbart Texas that agents across the nine southwest border sectors encountered and apprehended over 9,000 migrants per day for the two days prior to the interview. That figure means May is on a breakneck pace to blow past the previous record.

And that was before Title 42’s expiration on May 11.

This is the successful Trump-era policy that enabled federal agents to turn back illegal migrants without the normal tedious procedures. It was enacted through a joint effort of the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Title 42 is credited with the expulsion of as many as 2.8 million asylum seekers.

As for that 9,000 per day figure, officials expect it to reach as high as 14,000 per day when Thursday’s deadline passes. Even the Biden administration knows full well that the policy’s lapse will open the floodgates on an already porous border.

Last week Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent 1,500 active duty U.S. troops to the border to assist in administrative tasks. This was done to free up Border Patrol to better do its job in interdicting illegal border crossers.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also realized the looming crisis. He said that authorities along the southern border will be confronted by an “extremely challenging” situation as Title 42 expires.

The Biden administration is opening migrant processing centers in Central and South America with hopes of warding off the throngs assembling at the Mexican border.

Mayorkas said their opening will enable officials to quickly expel asylum seekers who bypass them and try to enter at the southern border. The facilities are expected to process as many as 6,000 migrants per month and eventually even more.

There is bipartisan congressional pushback against Title 42’s expiration.

Last week, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) threw their support behind legislation to extend a similar authority as that granted by Title 42 for two more years.

House Republicans are also working on immigration and border security measures and calling on the White House to join the effort.