A pandemic-era restriction on asylum seekers and other undocumented immigrants to the United States expired at the end of yesterday together with the Covid-19 public health emergency. Media reports indicated that tens of thousands of migrants had made their way to the country's Southern border in light of the law change.
Title 42 stipulated that undocumented migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border could be turned away without significant bureaucracy due to the Covid-19 pandemic justifying extraordinary measures. Even migrants who would normally be claiming asylum were turned away under the rule. Title 8, another piece of immigration legislation, was used in tandem with Title 42 since the pandemic began. In case of the use of Title 8, migrants' admissibility is checked according to regular protocol, which can lead to a successful asylum claim but also to a formal deportation and a ban of reentering the U.S. for several years—which wasn't done under Title 42.
This chart shows Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions recorded on the U.S. Southwestern ... [+]
Numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that in the first three months of 2023, around 45% of all apprehensions at the Southwestern U.S. border resulted in a Title 42 expulsion. Bearing in mind the limited paper trail of these actions, it is believed that migrants were often apprehended more than once while trying to cross into the country, inflating the numbers. However, the change will still increase the strain on institutions processing migrants at the border, which are often seriously backlogged anyways. Adding the high number of migrants now present at the border into the mix, some observers are expecting border facilities to be overwhelmed.
Prior to the end of Title 42, the Biden administration in January released new rules for those trying to immigrate from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti. They are now deemed automatically ineligible for an asylum claim at the border and are instead encouraged to apply to new quotas for legal immigration from their home countries. The total number of apprehensions and expulsions at the Southern U.S. border decreased together with the change.
Mismatch in rules for asylum seekers?
While the reasons for asylum claims can be varied, the new rules are a mismatch considering the number of successful asylum claims from some of these countries. Venezuelans and Cubans had previously been among the most common nationalities to be granted asylum in the U.S. together with Guatemalans and Salvadorians, which the new rules don't apply to.
Even for the nationalities who are still able to launch an asylum claim at the U.S. border, this doesn't necessarily mean that they will be able to stay in the United States. While Title 42 is now history, another Trump administration policy is still not entirely dead: Remain in Mexico. The Biden administration has tried to abolish the rule that makes asylum seekers wait out their court date in Mexico but has been repeatedly blocked by courts. Yesterday's end of Title 42 has now intensified discussions around a revival of the policy, which currently is also hindered by Mexico withdrawing its cooperation.
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Charted by Statista
