Biden administration to lift Title 42 Covid restriction on border in May, officials say

U.S. officials, state governors and local officials have warned of a potential surge of more than 170,000 migrants across the border if Title 42 is lifted.

The Biden administration is preparing to lift Title 42, the public health authority the U.S. has used since the spring of 2020 to stop the spread of Covid by preventing immigrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to claim asylum, say two officials familiar with the planning.

The policy, which the officials say will be lifted on May 23, has blocked more than 1.7 million attempts by immigrants to cross the border since its start during the Trump administration in March 2020, often turning them around and sending them back into poor conditions in Mexico.

Early in the Biden administration, the U.S. Border Patrol stopped enforcing Title 42 against children crossing alone and immigration advocates sued to afford the same protections to families crossing together. Now, according to the sources, all immigrants — even single adults — will be allowed to enter the United States.

Plans to end Title 42 were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. officials, state governors and local officials have warned of a potential surge of more than 170,000 migrants across the border if Title 42 is lifted. Thousands of would-be asylum seekers have been waiting in camps on the Mexican side of the border while Title 42 has been in effect.

One senior Department of Homeland Security official said there is concern inside the agency that setting a date to lift Title 42 for over a month away will incentivize more would-be immigrants to leave their homes now in hopes of being allowed into the United States in May.

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