Valley, state leaders welcome halt to border policy’s end

Local and state officials reacted similarly to news Friday of a Louisiana judge halting the Biden administration’s plans to phase out Title 42, a public health policy that restricts migrants from seeking asylum amid the pandemic.

U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays out of Louisiana ordered that Title 42 remain in place while a lawsuit led by Arizona and Louisiana goes to court. These states and 22 others argue that by attempting to phase out Title 42 the administration failed to consider the effects of its removal on border states.

The emergency health order was implemented during the Trump administration at the start of the pandemic which continued into the Biden administration, that is until the CDC decided this spring that it was no longer necessary. The administration then planned on ending Title 42 by Monday.

Concerns existed on both sides of the political aisle about the surge in border crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border should the policy have come to an end.

The city of McAllen, which is where Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley houses its respite center for migrants, issued a statement Friday praising the ruling.

“While McAllen and its partner, Catholic Charities were prepared to receive a larger number of immigrants this decision averted the potential for the situation to become untenable with more immigrants than could be safely and efficiently processed,” the city stated in its release.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, shared similar sentiments.

“I have made my concerns regarding the lifting of Title 42 very clear. Administration needs to ensure that they have the proper resources at the Southern Border so that our local communities and organizations are not left out of the conversation,” Gonzalez said in the release. “I have remained in contact with Secretary Mayorkas as well as local leaders to make sure that if and when Title 42 is lifted, we continue the humane treatment of migrants looking to come into the United States while remaining committed to the health and safety of the people we are sworn to represent.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday and delivered much more aggressive messaging regarding border security matters, as it related to Title 42 at the time, than in the past.

Still, Gov. Greg Abbott continued his criticism of President Joe Biden’s border policies in his reaction to Friday’s ruling.

“Another federal court announced today what we have known all along: President Biden is ignoring federal law with his open border policies,” Abbott said in a statement Friday. “While today’s court ruling rejecting President Biden’s ending of Title 42 expulsions is a positive development, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants remain at our southern border ready to flood into Texas.”

Abbott has implemented various state policies at the border from attempts to continue border wall construction to a crackdown on smuggling operations via Operation Lone Star, which tasks state authorities with policing those activities.

“Texas will continue utilizing all available resources and strategies to prevent this mass illegal migration, including the deployment of Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard resources, the coordination with Mexican border governors, and the activation of the Joint Border Security Operations Center,” Abbott continued. “We remain vigilant in fighting the lifting of Title 42 expulsions.”