Since the expiration last Friday of the Title 42 pandemic-era immigration policy, reported illegal border crossings have dropped significantly from just a week ago. This is after the Biden administration had estimated there would be a surge of illegal crossings of upward of 14,000 a day when the policy ended.
The LA Times reported:
Blas Nuñez-Neto, a lead Department of Homeland Security official, said there had been a 50% decrease in crossings over the weekend, compared to the more than 10,000 a day they had seen early last week. He said that, over the weekend, they had averaged below 5,000 encounters a day.
Still, he warned that it was too early to draw any conclusions and that smugglers would continue to try and take advantage of the moment by spreading disinformation that encouraged migrants to cross.
The lower number of illegal immigrants crossing the border is being attributed to the Biden administration’s implementing a higher standard for asylum applications and legal pathways for immigrants abroad using CBP One app to “schedule appointments to present themselves at ports of entry, facilitating safe and orderly arrivals.”
Reuters shared that, “Nunez-Neto said migrants crossing illegally now face tougher consequences at the border, including a minimum five-year bar on re-entry and the potential to be criminally prosecuted if they try again.”
Even though the surge of illegal aliens has not materialized, Republican Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales reportedly said “videos he recorded at El Paso showed that the border situation is worse than it’s being portrayed.”
During an interview Sunday on Face the Nation, Gonzales shared:
On Friday, I visited El Paso and went to the Central Processing Center. And you’re seeing these videos, and this is what not that bad looks like. In that — in the El Paso sector — there’s over 6,000 people that are in custody in this particular facility. It’s meant to house 1,000 people, it’s housing over 3,000. In one of these rooms, it’s meant — the max capacity is 90 people, there was over 400 in here, that’s a 450% capacity. In another room meant — meant to house 120 people, there was over 700 people in there. We can’t allow not that bad to be the normal. Just this week, there was a migrant child that died in HHS custody. It’s only the second time in history. I’m not looking to point fingers I’m trying to go — we should not allow not that bad to be the normal.
Gonzales criticized the Biden administration immigration policy, stating that they are “getting it wrong, because they’re so focused on illegal immigration. They’re trying ways to streamline it with the app and … other areas. What needs to happen is we need to focus on legal immigration.” The congressman continued, pointing out, “What we have to do is we have to enforce the laws that are already on the books. And Congress has to create a route where people can come over legally.”
Since the end of Title 42, numerous news agencies have reported that illegal immigrants seeking asylum are receiving immigration court dates set years from now — in some cases, after 2030.
Fox News reported:
A female migrant residing on the streets of El Paso, Texas, shared her court documents with Fox News after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
A document provided by the woman showed she is not expected to appear in front of an immigration judge until June 2026 in Newark, New Jersey — over three years after her initial crossing into America.
While the court appearance is scheduled to take place in New Jersey, the migrant told Fox she is hoping to travel to New York City, the migrant-hub that was already attempting to shelter nearly 60,000 migrants before Title 42’s lifting.
Representative Gonzales shared he witnessed the same at the border, stating, “I was at the port of entry, if you apply on the one app, your court date is 2031. I mean, that’s eight years from now.” Gonzalez added, “the president can surge, instead of surging 1,500 troops, surge immigration judges, this is America. Get your day in court. If you do not qualify for asylum, which nine out of 10 people don’t, you get sent back to your country of origin.”
For decades, failed immigration policies instituted by both Republican and Democrat administrations have led to the current border crisis. Current immigration policy needs a major overhaul. The end of Title 42 and the massive backlog of immigration court dates for asylum seekers makes it clear that Congress and the president must act to protect our nation’s sovereignty. But to date, no agreeable solution has gained bipartisan support, not even last month’s Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R. 2), which President Biden has already vowed to veto.
Thus, Americans can expect more of the same on immigration policy by a divided federal government that has no concern for the short-term and long-term consequences on their gross inability to secure our borders.
