We get it. More waves of immigrants are headed to our southern border, including Rio Grande Valley ports of entry. And we’re not ready.
Unfortunately, a country that is lifting COVID-19-related restrictions such as mask mandates and other measures that essentially declare that the pandemic no longer is a public health threat can no longer use that threat to keep foreigners out of the country.
Officials are going to have to find another reason to keep people out.
Driven by a federal court order, the government has lifted mask mandates for public transportation and educational institutions have eased similar restrictions. Businesses no longer feel pressured to ask customers to take similar precautions.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that the COVID-19 public health risk has fallen to the point that immigration restrictions that invoked Title 42 of the U.S. Code. The measure, written during World War II, allows the government to “prohibit, in whole or in part, the introductions of persons or property” who might bring disease or other threats to the public health — including mal intent.
The Trump administration took advantage of the global pandemic to invoke Title 42 as a means to stop foreign nationals from entering our country, including refugees who are not considered illegal entrants and who are protected by international law — law that our country has endorsed.
With the easing of restrictions, it is only logical, and expected, that the CDC would follow suit and declare that the need for Title 42 restrictions no longer exists.
However, many officials at all levels, including several in the Valley, oppose its removal. But they don’t cite any health risk, they say we can’t handle the large numbers of people already waiting to enter our country, much less those the thousands more who are on the way.
Many of the most vocal opponents of lifting Title 42 are also those who have been most vocal in their opposition to other pandemic-related restrictions, including our own Gov. Greg Abbott, who has joined 19 other governors in suing the federal government in an effort to keep the restrictions in place.
Title 42 ostensibly was written to protect public health, not to limit immigration numbers. In fact, it authorizes the government to detain immigrants and hold them under quarantine; it actually does more to justify the kinds of detentions that also were utilized in recent years, which brought their own howls of public outrage.
Health laws need to deal with health issues, and not be used as a matter of convenience to address unrelated issues, such as our inability to deal with large numbers of immigrants.
Lawmakers need to be honest. Let them file legislation that sets visa allocation to manageable monthly numbers if that’s their intent.
Better yet, let them accept the fact that our tradition of freedoms always will inspire people to come to our borders, and fashion workable immigration policies and procedures that speed up the removal of unqualified applicants and the acceptance of the others, so they can more quickly begin to benefit our economy and our country as a whole.
