Biden plans ‘aggressive application of immigration law’ to blunt migrant surge without Trump-era Covid order

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The Biden administration plans to implement an “aggressive application of immigration law” as part of a government-wide plan to blunt an expected surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border after expiration of a Trump-era policy which closed the border to most migrants on public health grounds.

A memorandum authored by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas outlines the Department of Homeland Security’s role in leading a “whole-of- government plan to prepare for and manage increased encounters of noncitizens” starting on 23 May, when the Centers for Disease Control’s order barring most migrants from entering the country will no longer be enforced.

Plans to sunset the CDC order, which makes use of a public health law known as Title 42, have drawn fire from Republicans who claim the Biden administration is throwing open America’s southern border to hordes of non-white migrants, as well as some Democrats who fear the political consequences of any action that can be characterised as loosening immigration enforcement in an election year.

But senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the DHS plan say the federal government is well-prepared to tackle the surge of asylum seekers expected to take advantage of the end of Title 42 through a combination of “surging resources” to handle the extra cases, increasing the efficiency with which US Customs and Border Protection processes migrants, and stepped up enforcement of laws which allow for expedited removal of migrants who don’t qualify for asylum.

Despite Republican claims that the Biden administration lacks a plan for ending Title 42, one official said the administration has been laying out strategies and running tabletop exercises to wargame the government’s actions for more than a year.

To meet the expected influx of border crossings, the official said CBP has detailed more than 600 extra personnel to the southern border region under the auspices of DHS’ Southwest Border Coordination Centre.

The official said the “central element” of the administration’s plan is a “commitment to strictly and fairly enforce our immigration laws and quickly remove individuals who do not qualify for relief under those laws”.

Additionally, the administration is acting to “increase efficiency” at which migrants can be processed, as well as step up efforts to alleviate the stress caused to border communities by increased numbers of migrants undergoing processing.

A DHS official said CBP plans to work with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as well as non-governmental organisations to “quickly and efficiently process non-citizens,” including deploying new methods to process migrants undergoing transport and making use of electronic files.

The official also said the department will work to swiftly “administer consequences” for those unlawfully entering the United States, including through “removal, detention and prosecution” under existing immigration laws.

“This includes expedited removal … referring [for prosecution] individuals who are recidivists or … those who cross regularly and get expelled,” the official said, as well as “detaining single adults where appropriate” and prosecuting those who are deemed not to have entered with valid asylum claims while accelerating asylum adjudications “to more quickly process those who do not qualify for relief”.

Asked about a recent decision by a Louisiana federal judge barring the administration from implementing plans to sunset Title 42, the official said the effect of the order would be “to prevent us from adequately preparing for the aggressive application of immigration law” but stressed that the administration would comply while disagreeing with the order’s premise.