Title 42 allows Customs and Border Protection officials to expel undocumented migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities. However, children and some families are exempt from the policy.Title 42 allows Customs and Border Protection officials to expel undocumented migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities. However, children and some families are exempt from the policy.
By Rebecca Morin | USA TODAY
The Biden administration extended a Trump-era policy Monday that allows migrants to be expelled to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that Title 42 “shall remain in effect until the CDC Director determines that the danger of further introduction of COVID-19 into the United States from covered noncitizens has ceased to be a serious danger to the public health, and the Order is no longer necessary to protect the public health.”
Title 42 allows Customs and Border Protection officials to expel undocumented migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities. However, children and some families are exempt from the policy.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that “Title 42 is not an immigration authority, but a public health authority, and its continued use is dictated by CDC and governed by the CDC’s analysis of public health factors.”
The policy was first issued last year by the CDC under the Trump administration. Biden has received backlash by immigrant activists and some lawmakers for keeping the policy in place.
“Not a surprising move by the Biden administration given the recent surge in covid-19 numbers in the United States. The hope is that Title 42 exclusion isn’t used into perpituity to exclude asylum seekers from the United States, but rather, a temporary measure to addresss a legitimate health crisis. Time will tell.”
Darius Amiri, Immigration Department Chair
