As the crisis at the Southern border worsens and amid reports the Biden administration is planning to lift Title 42, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on recent changes to how the department enforces border security and processes migrants at the Southern border.
“In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded 1.7 million encounters with individuals attempting to cross the border illegally, the highest single year total ever recorded,” Ernst and her colleagues wrote. “Even more troubling is the fact that this year is on pace to far exceed the record-breaking numbers from last year.”
“The Biden administration’s decision to terminate the Title 42 public health order that provided border agents the authority to perform expedited removals is the latest example of troubling policy moves,” the senators continued. “Last year, Title 42 was used more than 1 million times to quickly expel individuals who crossed the border illegally. Such a move will undoubtedly leave CBP and law enforcement along the border vulnerable to being overwhelmed in the face of sustained record levels of illegal crossings.”
To read the full letter, click here.
Last week, Ernst slammed the Biden administration’s border policies and urged the administration to rethink plans to lift Title 42, calling the influx of illegal immigrants “an absolute national security disaster.”
