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Mayorkas pushes back on criticisms of the administration's planning for Title 42's end
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday defended the administration’s handling of the end of Title 42 and blamed Congress for not providing it with more resources or advancing Biden’s immigration proposals over the last two years.
In an interview on NBC’s “TODAY,” Mayorkas criticized a judge’s order Thursday night temporarily blocking the administration’s effort to ease overcrowding at detention facilities by allowing some vetted migrants into the U.S. without a court date or a way to track them.
“We consider that ruling to be very harmful,” Mayorkas said. “The procedure that we were executing is something that other administrations have done. These individuals are screened and vetted, and then they are released and then placed into immigration enforcement proceedings. The Department of Justice is of course considering its options with respect the court’s ruling."
The Homeland Security secretary also defended an administration’s efforts to severely restrict asylum for migrants who haven’t sought or have been denied protection in other countries before they reach the U.S.
“We have built lawful safe and orderly pathways for people to use,” Mayorkas said, adding that if asylum seekers don’t adhere to those pathways, they don't face a ban but "have a higher burden of proof to meet."
“We have a security obligation and a humanitarian obligation to cut the ruthless smugglers out,” he continued. "We are going to deliver consequences for people who don’t use [lawful] pathways."
Asked by co-anchor Savannah Guthrie if Biden bears blame for the situation at the border, Mayorkas said, "The fundamental point is that we need Congress to act. The president on day one presented Congress with legislative reform. Our system has been broken for more than two decades. It’s time not to criticize. It’s time to act."
Removal flights have returned migrants to their home countries
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted multiple removal flights on Thursday, including to Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, according to an administration official.
The flights were among dozens conducted each week. Thousands of migrants were removed, expelled, or departed voluntarily today, the official said.
Migrants wait for chance to enter U.S. after end of pandemic-era restrictions
EL PASO, Texas — Cheers and applause broke out as migrants prepared to cross the border into El Paso, Texas, hours after the lifting of pandemic-era restrictions on Friday.
Once across, men and women, some in hoodies and sweaters to guard against the chilly desert night air, walked in single file to a U.S. Border Patrol van. A man and woman held hands, the woman covering her nose and mouth with her sleeve as dust filled the air.
Dozens of migrants had already boarded three white school buses in small groups, flanked by members of the National Guard and Border Patrol in green and camouflage uniforms.
After the van left, border authorities closed the outermost chain link fence and sealed it with a heavy lock.
Title 42 ending 'necessary' but ubiquitous detention not right, aid group says
The International Rescue Committee has slammed the beefed-up repercussions for those who will now attempt to cross the U.S-Mexico Border.
Ending Title 42 was a “necessary step to restore the rule of law,” president and CEO David Miliband said in a statement. The group provides humanitarian support to asylum seekers,
But "the IRC believes it is neither right nor practical to render illegal any attempt to claim asylum that is not based on a prior appointment," he said.
Families arriving to the border were fleeing for their lives, he said, recommending the U.S. adopt a "humane and effective" case management approach instead of detention. “The evidence from around the world is that cruelty is not the route to order,” he added.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande as Title 42 expires
Photo: Migrants board a bus in Yuma, Ariz., as Title 42 expires
Local pastor supports migrants in El Paso as Title 42 expires
First group of migrants passes through Gate 42 after Title 42 is lifted
EL PASO, Texas — A group of migrants was brought through Gate 42 at the border wall in El Paso just before 11:30 p.m. local time Thursday, about an hour-and-a-half after Title 42 officially ended.
The migrants were escorted into a white school bus in small groups. The bus was flanked by members of the National Guard and the Border Patrol.
The migrants walked in a single file carrying nothing on them, some looking down. Some appeared to be young men in hoodies and long shirts on the chilly night.
About 10 minutes after it arrived, the first bus left. Shortly after, another group boarded a second bus.
ACLU sues Biden administration over asylum policy
The American Civil Liberties Union and several immigration advocacy groups are challenging the Biden administration's new policy of limiting asylum for people who cross the border without prior authorization.
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for Northern California less than an hour after Title 42 expired argues that the updated immigration policy mirrors two Trump-era policies that were previously blocked by the courts. It prohibits asylum for migrants who traveled to the U.S. through third countries and did not obtain protections before arriving at the border.
“The Biden administration’s new ban places vulnerable asylum seekers in grave danger and violates U.S. asylum laws. We’ve been down this road before with Trump,” Katrina Eiland, the managing attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement. “The asylum bans were cruel and illegal then, and nothing has changed now.”
The filing argues that the Biden administration cannot restrict access to asylum based on how someone arrived at the border and that migrants often lack the ability to seek protections while in transit.
The challenge was filed on behalf of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, American Gateways, the Central American Resource Center, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Tahirih Justice Center.
Title 42 officially expires
The Covid-era restrictions that allowed immigration officials to quickly turn away migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border expired at 11:59 p.m. ET, ushering in tougher policies for asylum-seekers.
“Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum. We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to remain in the U.S," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
"The border is not open," he added. "People who do not use available lawful pathways to enter the U.S. now face tougher consequence."
It was a quiet night on the U.S. side of Gate 42 in the lead-up to the policy change. Hundreds of migrants have been waiting in Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, in recent days.
A Customs and Border Protection official in El Paso said Thursday night some 300 to 400 migrants were waiting on the Mexican side of the border wall near Gate 42 in Juárez.
“They’ll be processed under Title 8,” the CBP official said.
President Donald Trump invoked Title 42 in 2020 as the coronavirus spread across the country. The Biden administration announced this year that it would end the national Covid-19 emergency and that immigration policy would revert to Title 8, which allows immigrants to apply for ways to enter the U.S. legally and carries penalties for attempted illegal border crossings.