The End of Title 42

Title 42 is set to lift (for real this time) at 9pm this evening, and since I am sitting. at home today sick on the couch I thought I could spend some time researching and writing about this COVID era policy that with its expiration is going to completely alter the dynamics of my workplace and the lives of so many entering the US.

The following information is my summary of what I have seen and read through the lens of my limited Immigration policy knowledge. I am continuing to try to understand our complex system and welcome feedback on information I missed or stated incorrectly!

What is Title 42?

Title 42 is a policy that was enacted in 2020 to greatly limit who was able to enter the country in order to seek asylum. It was a CDC policy intending to curb the spread of COVID. Over the last three years a (relatively) small number of people have been allowed into the US to try their luck in the asylum legal process, while everyone else has been turned away at ports of entry, or deported. Who was allowed in and who was turn

ed away under this policy is something that I could not find the answer to. Now that the Public Health Emergency is officially ending, Title 42 is also expiring. Without any other changes this would mean that many many more people will be entering the US in order to ask for asylum.

What's Next?

DHS and the Biden administration has set up a six pillar plan for handling the great influx of people. I have summarized the plan directly from DHS.gov. (with my critical thoughts in parentheses afterward)

1. Increase resources at the border. Expanding budget for more Border Patrol Agents, surveillance towers, and holding facilities along the border. (aka militarize the border)

2. CBPOne app to increase efficiency. Migrants will need to spend minimal time in holding facilities because they will have a scheduled appointment at a point of entry. (We have already seen so many limitations with this app including: it is only offered in three languages, it is timed and therefore difficult for families to apply together, Asylum seekers must have access to a smart phone and adequate wifi, and the photo function does not recognize faces of people with darker skin tones.)

3. Detention and Deportation for those who enter "unlawfully." Credible fear interviews are conducted in order to determine whether or not someone has a valid case for seeking asylum in the US, those who do not meet the requirements will be detained and prosecuted or deported under Title 8. (To me, deportation has always seemed like a costly bandaid. I scoured the USCIS.gov page about the credible fear interviews and could not find specifics of what these are actually like.)

4. Increasing funding to NGO's. (I have been writing my frustration with this all year long. The only reason organizations like Casa Alitas exist is because we are picking up the pieces of the mess that the Federal government created. If humanitarian resources were built into the entry process instead of detention/holding facilities, NGO's would not have to exist and funding would be much more centralized.)

5. Disrupting smuggling of illegal drugs. Increased efforts to reduce the trafficking of drugs and other illegal sales. (I do not know enough on this subject to have any opinions to add.)

6. Collaboration with North and Central American countries to limit migration across the continent. Agreements with Canada, Panama, and Colombia have been reached to decrease entry and movement of people through these countries. (Why is the focus on building more fierce borders and not building programs to support economic and governmental stability so people don't have to leave their homes in the first place? Also, no one is mentioning Mauritania or India which is where a majority of people that we see at Casa Alitas is coming from!)

Casa Alitas

At Casa Alitas we are preparing for a big surge in people with the lifting of Title 42. This week we have already started receiving buses of people throughout the day from more rural border communities and we are expecting this to increase as soon as tomorrow morning. As I am writing this at noon, the main welcome center has already received over 750 people this morning and there does not seem to be any idea of how many more will be coming this afternoon/evening.

The Governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, visited Casa Alitas earlier this week to do a press conference. You can watch the full press conference here, or the reporting of a local news outlet here.

Guests finishing up their food before going inside for a COVID screening (in the white tents on the left) and the Governor speaking for eager listeners (in the middle of the frame).

I can sit here and critique policy and administrations all day, but when it comes to solutions I have to recognize that there are none. Solutions do not exist for international crises in the way that our brains often want black and white answers. A solution looks like working towards equitable resources across the globe so people do not have to flee their homeland. How do we make that happen? I have absolutely no idea, but I do think we will have leave behind methods of force and alienation and start thinking up some new creative ways of what it looks like to be a loving neighbor.