The Immigration issue is back in the news again as there has been a border surge of illegal migrants to the south. The number of people detained by the US Border Patrol each day has risen to 7,000 in March. This figure was based on government data.
The unauthorized border surge soared to its highest ever in decades in the summer of 2021 with over 200,000 confrontations recorded in July and August by the Border Patrol. The period since then has seen a modest drop, but there has been an upsurge since then.
The situation has been further complicated as the contentious Trump-era measures that were used to deter the border surge are being abandoned. The Title 42 policy will end in May this year.
Title 42 Was Condemned By Politicians And Immigration Advocates Alike For Handling The Border Surge
The use of this Trump-era relic was condemned by the left. Mainstream members and immigration advocates alike had taken up the issue with the Democratic Party including Charles Schumer, the Majority Leader in the Senate, who is not generally prone to break with the government’s standpoint.
The Biden administration realizes that the policy revocation used to deter future illegal immigration would lead to another round of border surges. The policy was initially deployed as a public health step during the pandemic.
Kate Bedingfield communicated the White House position that the Biden administration would refer the issue to the CDC for advice on ending the policy. But she accepted that there would be a fresh border surge once the measures were withdrawn. She said that the administration was ready for that contingency.
Homeland Security officials revealed that they planned to face as high as 18,000 attempts at the border crossing each day. If that figure being touted by DHS officials is true, it might lead to 500,000 attempts at border crossing every month. This is over double the earlier high.
