As thousands of migrants gather at the border in Mexico ahead of the end of COVID-era border restrictions next week, a new push for a bipartisan immigration overhaul and improved border security is emerging in the U.S. Congress.
According to a congressional office involved in the discussions, the most recent of these efforts is a last-minute legislative push that would give U.S. border authorities similar expulsion powers permitted under the expiring COVID restrictions, known as Title 42, for a period of two years.
Title 42 began under Republican former President Donald Trump in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and allows U.S. authorities to expel migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek asylum. The order is set to lift on May 11 when the COVID health emergency officially ends.
But many Republicans and some Democrats, particularly in border areas, fear the end of the order will lead to a rise in migration that authorities are poorly equipped to face. A top border official recently told lawmakers that migrant crossings could jump to 10,000 per day after May 11, nearly double the daily average in March.
Senators Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent, and Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, are leading the effort to temporarily extend border expulsions. The pair view it as a short-term fix while they work on broader immigration reform, Sinema spokesperson Hannah Hurley said.
“This is squarely about the immediate crisis with the end of Title 42,” Hurley said.
Separately, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives plans to pass a package of border security measures next week to place tougher constraints on asylum-seekers, resume construction of a wall along the southwest border with Mexico, and expand federal law enforcement.
