OAN Roy Francis
10:51 AM – Friday, May 12, 2023
After Title 42 was lifted on Thursday, the Biden administration have said that they have implemented “sweeping new policies” which are designed to restrict access into the United States.
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Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, said that 24,000 Border Patrol agents and officers have recently been reassigned to the border to help enforce U.S. laws.
“The border is not open,” he said on Thursday. “Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum. We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to remain in the US.”
“People who do not use available lawful pathways to enter the U.S. now face tougher consequences, including a minimum five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution,” the secretary added. “Together with our partners throughout the federal government and Western Hemisphere, we are prepared for this transition.”
Earlier on Thursday, Mayorkas warned that the U.S. should expect to see a rise in the number of encounters along the border due to the ending of Title 42, however, he said that they are prepared and that their “plan will deliver results.”
“We expected to see large numbers of encounters initially. We are already seeing high numbers of encounters in certain sectors,” Mayorkas said. “This places an incredible strain on our personnel, our facilities and our communities with whom we partner closely. We prepared for this moment for almost two years and our plan will deliver results. It will take time for those results to be fully realized, and it is essential that we all take this into account.”
Mayorkas made an appearance on CNN on Friday morning and said that they are “screening and vetting” to see who is eligible to remain in the country.
“We are taking them into our custody, we are screening and vetting them,” he said. “And if they do not have a basis to remain, we will remove them very swiftly.”
The State Department announced that when Title 42 is lifted, the administration would return to using Title 8.
“Like many other COVID-era public health measures,” the State Department previously said in April. “The CDC’s temporary Title 42 public health order will also come to an end. But the lifting of the Title 42 order does not mean the border is open. When the Title 42 order lifts at 11:59 PM on May 11, the United States will return to using Title 8 immigration authorities to expeditiously process and remove individuals who arrive at the U.S. border unlawfully. These decades-old authorities carry steep consequences for unlawful entry, including at least a five-year ban on reentry and potential criminal prosecution for repeated attempts to enter unlawfully.”
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