Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez is worried an “unmanageable crisis” is on the horizon with the potential end of a pandemic-era policy that gave Border Patrol authority to immediately deport asylum seekers being just three weeks away.
And he’s asking President Joe Biden to immediately visit Hidalgo County to learn first-hand about the challenges from those tasked with addressing asylum seekers and migrants in Hidalgo County.
Cortez sent a letter to Biden on Monday outlining these concerns following a Nov. 15 federal ruling in Washington D.C. that ruled Title 42 must end.
At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, President Donald J. Trump invoked the public health authority for the first time since 1944 to curb the spread of COVID-19 and called for the immediate expulsion of people to Mexico, even those seeking asylum.
Since the pandemic has begun to wane, Title 42 has been the target of legal efforts to keep it in place and to end it.
The letter from Cortez, a Democrat, is his second to Biden on the subject and is also his second invitation to the president to visit Hidalgo County.
Cortez said in the letter he believes the end of Title 42 will create a serious situation for border communities without a “detailed and comprehensive strategy to manage the influx of asylum seekers.”
Without such a strategy, Cortez said the influx could prove disastrous for Hidalgo County “and with all probability transform a manageable challenge into an unmanageable crisis.”
“In the time between my first letter and today our community has been able to manage this extremely difficult situation along our border,” Cortez wrote. “This undertaking, however, has not been easy.”
Resources are limited, and local, state and federal law enforcement are frustrated, Cortez wrote, adding that even social organizations are finding themselves exhausted in their efforts.
“During the current prohibition to entry, refugee camps have been established along the border in Northern Mexico,” Cortez wrote. “These camps are growing larger as individuals from around the world gather in anticipation of a renewed opportunity to enter our country.”
Cortez believes the repeal of Title 42 would create an immediate and unmanageable flow of migrants into the county.
“Hidalgo County and other border communities are not equipped to manage population inflows of this size,” Cortez wrote.
Telling Biden that the border is home to the people who live here, Cortez said that as someone who experiences the reality of this challenge on a daily basis, he is respectfully making three requests of Biden.
In addition to asking Biden to visit, he also asked the president to prioritize comprehensive immigration reform for the next session of Congress.
He also asked Biden to provide leadership to delay the suspension of Title 42 until a comprehensive strategy is developed to handle the expected increase of migrants.
This request, however, is not immediately up to the president, as a federal judge in Washington D.C. has ordered the administration to end Title 42 on Dec. 21.
However, this ruling conflicts with a May ruling from a federal judge in Louisiana who ruled that Title 42 must remain in place.
That ruling is currently on appeal.
