Title 42: What is the immigration rule and why is it ending?

After more than three years, a Trump-era rule that allowed for the rapid expulsion of many illegal migrants is expiring.

Tens of thousands of migrants have surged to the US-Mexico border this week ahead of the end of the policy, known as Title 42.

US President Joe Biden acknowledged “it’s going to be chaotic for a little while” once the measure is lifted a minute before midnight on 11 May.

It dates back to a 1944 law known as the Public Health Act, which granted US authorities emergency powers to prevent the spread of diseases.

In March 2020, the Trump administration invoked the statute, citing the need to stop the spread of Covid-19 across its borders.

With Title 42 in place, US authorities were able to swiftly remove migrants crossing the border from Mexico – including asylum seekers – using the pandemic as justification.

Some 2.8 million people have been expelled under Title 42 since it was implemented, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

After taking office in January 2021, Mr Biden and his administration kept the policy in place and continued to defend it as a public health measure for more than a year.

Citing a diminished public health risk, in April 2022 the US Centers for Disease Control – which oversees US health policy – signalled it would end the policy.

Republican-led states sought to keep the policy in place.

But with federally mandated Covid measures ending on 11 May, officials say the time is finally up for Title 42.

US officials have processed more than 10,000 arrivals at the border each day this week, thought to be the highest levels ever, and up from about 5,000 in March.

Border facilities on Wednesday were holding some 28,000 migrants, far beyond their capacity, sources told Reuters news agency.

To cope with the influx, the Department of Homeland Security has stationed 24,000 more law enforcement officers and deployed 1,500 active-duty troops at the border.

Meanwhile, Mexico is also sending troops to its border with Central America to control the expected increase in migrants attempting to reach the US.

The Biden administration introduced new rules this week that would deny asylum to almost all migrants who cross illegally.

The strict measures would largely ban migrants who travelled through other countries on their way to the US-Mexico border from applying for asylum in the US, or who fail to first apply online.

Illegal crossers will be deported, barred from re-entering the US for at least five years, and be “presumed ineligible for asylum”, according to CBP. Under Title 42, there were no such consequences.

But the new rules are likely to face legal challenges from immigrant advocacy groups.

The Biden administration plans to open new migrant processing centres in Colombia and Guatemala in a bid to help reduce undocumented immigration.

Mexico has agreed to continue to accept 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as long as they come by air.

The US, for its part, has agreed to take up to a total of 100,000 people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador who have family in the US.

The issue of immigration is likely to play an important role in the 2024 presidential race.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found that a majority of respondents oppose allowing more immigrants into the country, including 34% of Democrats.

Former US President Donald Trump, who is a 2024 election contender, warned in a CNN town hall that the end of Title 42 would be “a day of infamy”.

A proposed Senate bill, backed by Arizona Independent Kyrsten Sinema and North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis, would allow for rapid expulsions in a manner similar to Title 42, but without the public-health justification.