Representative Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) and other progressive lawmakers on Thursday urged President Biden to rescind the Title 42 public-health order next month as planned and to avoid caving to political pressure from Republicans and moderate Democrats.
“We reiterate our support for President Biden’s repeal of this fundamentally racist, unjust, and cruel Title 42 order,” said Pressley of the Covid-era order that has allowed border agents to immediately expel illegal border crossers.
The policy is slated for termination on May 23.
“This unconscionable, racist, and xenophobic Trump-era policy was in effect for too long,” Pressley said during a news conference outside the Capitol, according to Fox News. “It did nothing but inflict unspeakable hurt and harm on migrants, particularly Black and Brown migrants — denying millions their fundamental right to seek asylum.”
Representative Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), who is the leader of the House Progressive Caucus, appeared at the news conference as well, calling Title 42 a “policy failure, plain and simple.”
She called on her fellow Democrats to “not be afraid to lean into” the issue and to combat “Republican xenophobia” by embracing immigrants and fighting for a “fair and humane immigration system.”
“Shame on anyone — Republican or, frankly, Democrat — who uses or buys into the use of immigrants as a political football at the same time that they — as do all of us — benefit from the labor and the contributions of undocumented and documented immigrants,” Jayapal said.
Representative Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D., Ill.) said he and his colleagues expect President Biden to follow through on his promise to end Title 42 next month. He added that for his “fellow Democrats who will be caving under political pressure,” it would be a “huge mistake for Democrats to shy away from dismantling this cruel plank of Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.”
However, a federal judge in Louisiana recently temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending Title 42. Judge Robert Summerhays of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the administration from ending the policy until arguments for a more formal injunction may be considered. The judge’s order will expire on May 9.
Louisiana, Arizona, and Missouri had sued the Biden administration over its plan to end the policy next month.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have warned that the southern border will likely see a huge surge in illegal immigration when the order ends. Border Patrol agents have already encountered more than a million migrants in just the first half of the fiscal year.
The Biden administration has warned that some 18,000 migrants could turn up at the border each day after Title 42 is lifted.