Senator Ted Cruz
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today sent a letter to President Biden urging him to renew the Title 42 policy, which has played a crucial role the past two years in protecting Americans from COVID-19 by allowing border officials to expeditiously expel illegal immigrants. The Biden administration is reassessing Title 42 on Wednesday, March 30th. There have been reports that rescinding this policy would lead to a massive influx of more than 170,000 illegal immigrants at the southern border.
In the letter, Sen. Cruz wrote:
“As you may know, there is currently a crisis occurring at the Southern Border. In Texas, South Texas border communities Del Rio and McAllen are already suffering and are running low on resources from dealing with a massive influx of illegal immigrants. These communities cannot further be burdened by a mass influx of illegal immigrants, due to the ending of Title 42. It has been reported that U.S. intelligence officials are privately bracing for a massive influx of more than 170,000 illegal immigrants at the Southern Border if this Title 42 policy is ended.[1]
As elected officials, we have a duty to protect the American people and Title 42 has played an integral role in the past two years in doing this. As America continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus should be on securing our borders, rather than opening the flood gates to additional persons.”
Read the full text of the letter here and below.
Dear President Biden,
We must protect Americans and secure the Southern Border. As you know, in March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Title 42 emergency order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This order allows for illegal immigrants to be expelled in order to protect U.S. citizens from COVID-19.[2] I strongly urge you to ensure this policy is renewed before it expires on March 30, 2022.
As you may know, there is currently a crisis occurring at the Southern Border. In Texas, South Texas border communities Del Rio and McAllen are already suffering and are running low on resources from dealing with a massive influx of illegal immigrants. These communities cannot further be burdened by a mass influx of illegal immigrants, due to the ending of Title 42. It has been reported that U.S. intelligence officials are privately bracing for a massive influx of more than 170,000 illegal immigrants at the Southern Border if this Title 42 policy is ended.[3]
As elected officials, we have a duty to protect the American people and Title 42 has played an integral role in the past two years in doing this. As America continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus should be on securing our borders, rather than opening the flood gates to additional persons.
As President of the United States, you have the ability to ensure the renewal of this critical policy that has protected Americans from the further spread of COVID-19. I urge you to keep the promise you made to the American people in your State of the Union[4] speech to secure the border your promise to the American people to secure the border and immediately renew Title 42.
Sincerely,
/s/
[1] Jonathan Swan, Stef W. Knight, Scoop: Biden officials fear “mass migration event” if COVID policies end, Axios (March 17, 2022) https://www.axios.com/biden-border-mexico-migrants-title-42-a91b6441-2197-463f-ab1f-2435824a9566.html.
[2] Order Suspending the Right to Introduce Certain Persons From Countries Where a Quarantinable Communicable Disease Exist published by Center for Disease Control (March 3, 2020) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/CDC-Order-Suspending-Right-to-Introduce-_Final_8-2-21.pdf.
[3] Jonathan Swan, Stef W. Knight, Scoop: Biden officials fear “mass migration event” if COVID policies end, Axios (March 17, 2022) https://www.axios.com/biden-border-mexico-migrants-title-42-a91b6441-2197-463f-ab1f-2435824a9566.html.
[4] Remarks of President Joe Biden, State of the Union Address As Prepared for Delivery (March 1, 2022) https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/01/remarks-of-president-joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-as-delivered/.