Capito co-sponsoring bill to help handle expected surge at border

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is now one of the co-sponsors of a bill to keep some of the operations of Title 42 in place at the southern border after the program expires on Thursday.

If approved, the legislation, led by Senators Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ari., would give the Biden administration a two-year temporary expulsion authority for migrants to illegally enter the United States without inspection or proper documents.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced on Monday he is also behind the bill.

“For over two years, the Biden administration has failed to grasp the ongoing crisis at our Southern Border,” Capito said in announcing her support of the legislation. “Now, as we approach the end of Title 42 authority, which has been a useful tool in trying to stem this flow, I fear the Biden administration has failed to adequately prepare for when the authority expires. As such, I have joined as a cosponsor to bipartisan legislation expanding authority similar to those granted under Title 42.”

The Title 42 authority was put into place in early 2020 as a means to stem the spread of COVID and was based on the existence of a public health emergency. This legislation gives the administration temporary expulsion authority that is not tied to public health, Capito said.

“We have a lot of work to do to preserve and protect true claims of asylum while doing the things we must to do secure our border through physical structures, enhanced technology, efficient processing, and support for border personnel,” she said. “We have to continue to work toward a balance of being a nation that celebrates legal immigration, recognizing the needs of those who claim asylum, while preventing the nefarious goals of cartels who want to smuggle people and drugs into our country. When tens of thousands of people cross into our country and overwhelm our system, we cannot achieve any of those goals.”

The bipartisan bill provides protections to ensure migrants whose return would threaten their life, freedom, or expose them to torture, and allows case-by-case exemptions for as well as migrants with acute medical needs.

A surge of migrants is expected at the border this week as Title 42 expires at the end of the day on Thursday, the date the national COVID emergency also ends.