President Joe Biden is using his presidential authority to stop using Title 42, a healthcare law introduced during the Covid pandemic, to control immigration at the borders with Mexico and Canada.
The administration says it is instead implementing a plan that encourages immigrants to use legal avenues, some of them aimed at helping some immigrants from certain countries. The administration has also said that its plan is to use deterrence and diplomacy to deter people from trying to enter the country illegally.
Here are some of the policies and requirements that the Biden administration is using or has announced it plans to use when Title 42 ends Thursday:
- Replace Title 42 with Title 8, the section of US law dealing with immigration and nationality that was used at borders before the pandemic.
- Levy penalties allowed under Title 8 $50 to $250 in fines and six months to two years in prison for each attempt to cross the border without legal permission and double the fines for anyone previously fined or jailed. Penalties are more severe if a person has a criminal record and re-enters the country illegally. Title 42 had suspended those sanctions, leading to an increase in the number of people who repeatedly crossed the border after being removed.
- Require anyone who wants to apply for asylum to make an appointment through the CBP One Phone App. The number of appointments available per day through the app expands from around 800 to around 1000, and appointments can be made 23 hours a day.
- Tighten the rules on asylum so that applications are open only to people who can show they applied in third countries and were rejected and who tried to make appointments through CBP One. The stricter rules propose some exceptions for unaccompanied children, people in imminent danger and certain victims of trafficking.
- Allow 30,000 Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Cubans a month who have US sponsors to apply for humanitarian parole in the US Those who qualify can work in the country for two years.
- Add asylum officers and immigration judges to speed up processing times. Conduct «credible fear interviews» of asylum seekers earlier in the process and provide legal services so deportations can be expedited.
- Deploy 1,500 active duty military to assist Border Patrol with paperwork processing.
- Bring in thousands of contractors and non-uniformed employees to support the administrative tasks typically performed by Border Patrol agents.
- Expand Border Patrol’s ability to hold migrants and increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement removal flights, doubling and tripling some for certain countries.
- Open processing centers in countries where people can apply for legal immigration to the US, Canada, Spain and other countries.
- Increase Panamanian, Colombian and US personnel in the Darien Gap region to counter smugglers and push back migrants traveling through it to reach the US.
- Create a legal way for families from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia to reunite with relatives in the US.
- Apply an agreement with Mexico to accept more migrants rejected at the US border.
Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have touted the measures as «historic steps to secure the border» in lieu of meaningful immigration action by Congress.
But both Republicans and some Democrats have said the administration isn’t doing enough to deal with the sheer number of people trying to cross into the US and their impact on border cities and states. Republicans have tried to stop the end of Title 42 in court; In Congress, the GOP is trying to pass a bill that, among other things, would resume construction of a border wall. Biden has said that he would veto the bill.
Democrats and immigration advocates have also criticized the administration, arguing that the policies make it harder to seek asylum in the US.