DHS and State Announce Plan to Ease Expected Surge after End of Title 42

Yesterday, the Departments of State and Homeland Security announced new measures which they say will “further reduce unlawful migration across the Western Hemisphere, significantly expand lawful pathways for protection, and facilitate the safe, orderly, and humane processing of migrants.”

In short, the Biden Administration’s overhaul of the immigration system is founded on promising would be illegal immigrants a chance in the U.S. just so long as they do not rush the border.

With Title 42 ending in roughly two weeks, the administration hopes these new measures will help ease the expected surge of illegal aliens at the southern border. “We can, and will, reduce the number of migrants that reach our southern border,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

Other officials say they still expect a surge when the pandemic-era border policy ends on May 11; however, they remain hopeful that the new steps will eventually persuade migrants that they can earn a chance to enter the country if they wait but will be barred if they don’t wait.

Mayorkas’s new border plan involves “expanding avenues for entry, including more refugees, more family reunification and an expanded use of his controversial “parole” power,” reports the Washington Times.

Astonishingly, Mayorkas also plans to set up welcome centers in foreign countries to tell would-be migrants about those additional pathways into the United States.

Mayorkas did vow that DHS would establish a stricter stance against those who do not take advantage of the new pathways into the U.S. and decide instead to cross or attempt to cross the southern border illegally.

Mayorkas also announced that he hopes to finalize a certain regulation by the end of Title 42 that would allow the U.S. to automatically deny asylum to anyone who crosses through another country to reach the U.S. He said those who do show up could be placed in “expedited removal.”

The Washington Times adds:

Parts of the plan seem hastily assembled.

None of the “regional processing centers” is operational, and just two will be ready in the coming weeks, officials said. The two centers will be in Guatemala and Colombia.

More processing centers are coming, but officials declined to say where or when.

Mr. Mayorkas estimates that 5,000 to 6,000 people a month will use the centers in the early going. That’s a tiny fraction of the total flow of people. In March, Customs and Border Protection recorded nearly 258,000 unauthorized entries.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated that he hopes this new approach will “shape the thinking of migrants” when they see family, friends and neighbors who enter the U.S. easily. He added:

My expectation would be that many other people beyond those that are actually being processed in any month will stay put and wait to avail themselves of this additional way of accessing legal pathways.

You can read the complete story here.