Homeland Security Secretary says plans underway for lifting of Title 42

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited on Tuesday this border city beset by the latest migrant surge, assuring local leaders that plans are underway for the lifting of a pandemic-related public health order. Mayorkas also had choice words for migrants listening to smugglers urging them to make a run for the U.S. border by Dec. 21. That’s the day that the rule, known as Title 42, will be lifted under orders from a federal judge. Mayorkas’ message to migrants: “You are only imperiling your lives, and you’re wasting your money, and you are proceeding in very fragile terrain. He was speaking to reporters, including a KTEP public radio journalist. “The plan that we have set out is to enforce our immigration laws,” he said. “That means our laws of asylum and our laws of removal are laws of enforcement.”

After Title 42 is lifted, he said, part of the Biden administration’s contingency plan is “an increased reliance on expedited removal, which means people will be removed very quickly, and that’s the message they should hear.” Mayorkas’ visit to El Paso came just hours after one of the largest groups of migrants, mostly from Nicaragua, crossed the Rio Grande into El Paso. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said the number of migrants crossing the border has “created an unprecedented strain” and requires more federal resources. “While I am extremely grateful to the Biden administration for the millions of dollars they have provided El Paso in financial support, in both upfront funding and reimbursements, as well as their ongoing work with neighboring countries to address root causes, that long-overdue work will bear fruit immediately,” Escobar said. She said she asked the Biden administration for more resources to local governments and funding to federally-operated short-term emergency shelters.