Massive immigrant surge expected as end of Title 42 nears

WASHINGTON (TND) — President Joe Biden and his top border official are taking heat over a decision to let the controversial policy Title 42 expire next week.

The rule implemented under former President Donald Trump was used more than 2 million times to keep immigrants from crossing into the United States through the Southern border.

More than 1,000 immigrants are currently living on the streets of El Paso, Texas, and shelters are at capacity.

“It’s been bad,” said one Venezuelan migrant. “Migrants have to wait in line for hours just to use the restroom."

Closer to the Southern border, the numbers double.

In an incident that was caught on camera, a recent "bailout" took place in front of an elementary school as a car of suspected illegal immigrants was pulled over. It has officials reconsidering their open campus and now contemplating a fence perimeter.

I had my elementary students out at the playground as they were lining up to get ready to come in for the day, they actually had people from the bailout running amongst the students," said Eliza Diaz, superintendent of the Brackett Independent School District.

All of it could pale in comparison to what may be coming with the end of Title 42 next week, a policy allowing almost immediate expulsion of illegal immigrants due to COVID and public health fears. Predicting a massive surge, Biden is sending 1,500 troops to back up Customs and Border Protection agents.

A White House reporter asked Karine Jean-Pierre this week, “Do you feel ready for what may be coming next?”

"This administration is using the tools that they have available to them,” she responded.

It’s similar to a move the-Sen. Kamala Harris criticized when Trump deployed thousands of troops to the border in 2018. She called it "some demonstration for the TV cameras based on a political agenda instead of what’s a national security threat.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, facing calls for impeachment by Republicans, is spending Thursday and Friday at the border in preparation.

But multiple sheriffs along border towns are telling Sinclair that the White House needs to rethink policy, more than just manpower.

“My reaction to the 1,500 troops sent to the border is not appreciated at all because we need help," saidSheriff Raymundo Del Bosque of Zapata County.

He worries Title 42’s end will spread false word that the border is open to migrants worldwide.

Recent Full Measure reports from Panama’s infamous pathway called the Darien Gap showed the throngs of families from Africa to Afghanistan on their way, hoping to call America home.