The United States activated on Tuesday (22) a plan to end Title 42, a regulation toilet used to expressly expel immigrants arriving at the southern border using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext.
The announcement takes place after a federal judge gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a five-week period to suspend the rule.
“We are activating our plans” for when Title 42 is suspended, DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Blas Nuñez-Neto said in a telephone conversation with journalists.
When this regulation instituted by former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) is suspended, Title 8 will apply, which allows immigrants to apply for asylum at the ports of entry and gives the government the power to deport and even impose penalties on those who do not meet the requirements and are deemed inadmissible.
The Executive’s plans include m measures to reduce processing times, apply reprisals to those who cross the border illegally and work with governments in the region, including Mexico, to deal with coyotes and human traffickers, explained Núñez.
“ There are more than 23 thousand agents at the border and we have significantly increased our detention capacity to be able to transport immigrants and deport them”, detailed the official.
Nuñez also announced that, as part of its preparation, the government of Joe Biden is in negotiations with governments in the region to be able to deport Venezuelans to third countries.
“Third countries have historically been used to repatriate Venezuelans and it is something we will continue to do”, he highlighted.
The US does not have diplomatic relations with Venezuela and in early October the Biden government reached an agreement with Mexico to be able to expel the immigrants from the South American country arriving at the southern border.
Last week, Judge Emm et Sullivan of the District of Columbia issued a decision forcing the government to terminate the Title 42, calling it “arbitrary and capricious”.
The Title 42 has its origins in a century law intended to prevent the “introduction” of contagious diseases into the United States .
Under the pretext of this regulation, the USA does not allow immigrants to apply for asylum when they arrive in its territory and are expelled from the country by express routes.
The main The difference between the regulations is that Title 8 obliges the authorities to transfer undocumented migrants to detention centers for several hours where they can apply for asylum, while Title 42 allows deportation to be resolved in 15 minutes and no room for asylum.
The Sullivan court ruling not only broke down one of the last remaining barriers to immigration imposed by Trump, but also challenged the Biden administration at a time when they are being reg records of arrests of undocumented immigrants at the border with Mexico.
In October alone there were 230 thousand arrests at the US-Mexico border, with more than 78.42 expulsions from American territory.
Under Title 42, the USA expelled more than 2.5 million immigrants, according to data from the International Rescue Committee.
