The Democrat mayor of Tucson Tuesday called for the end of Title 42, a COVID-19 provision that allowed U.S. authorities at the border to turn away illegal aliens.
“This is not our first rodeo,” Tucson Mayor Regina Romero (D) told The Hill. “In Tucson, we have been on the front lines of receiving asylum-seekers and immigrants. We have a system in place with nonprofits and [the] Pima County government – we know how to do this.”
“What I did say to the [Biden] administration is that we need to make sure that we have the resources necessary for local government and nonprofits to provide what we know how to provide,” Romero said. “So I have seen the plan. It has been shared publicly and I think that that is the way to be able to deal with the bottleneck that has been created over the past two and a half years on the border.”
Romero did not elaborate on the plan she referenced, and her office did not return a Tuesday comment request.
Experts, including United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), have warned that if Title 42 is revoked, there will be a surge of migrants on top of already record-breaking numbers, and that there could be “significant safety implications.”
Just before Title 42 was set to expire Monday, a federal judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Biden administration from revoking the rule, which was established during former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich led a coalition of states in a lawsuit seeking to keep the rule in place.
He now leads another coalition of states in a separate suit, this time seeking to prevent the Biden administration from implementing a policy that would purportedly make it easier for migrants seeking asylum to have their requests granted. That policy would shift the asylum-seeking process away from immigration judges who currently decide asylum cases, to the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Meanwhile, as migrant crossings skyrocket, DHS and its Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas insist that the southern border is closed.
“The United States continues to enforce its immigration laws, and restrictions at our Southwest border have not changed,” DHS said in a Tuesday tweet, with an accompanying video from Mayorkas. “The bottom line is that U.S. borders are not open. Individuals and families continue to be subject to border restrictions, including expulsion.”
The United States continues to enforce its immigration laws, and restrictions at our Southwest border have not changed.
The bottom line is that U.S. borders are not open.
Individuals and families continue to be subject to border restrictions, including expulsion. pic.twitter.com/YYTjGSkfTE
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 24, 2022
“The United States continues to enforce its immigration laws,” Mayorkas says in the video. “Individuals and families should not put their lives at risk by taking the dangerous journey, only to be sent back.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Regina Romero” by Mayor Regina Romero. Background Photo “Border Wall” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
