WASHINGTON — The repeal of a public health directive allowing the immediate expulsion of those who illegally cross into the United States could turn a crisis into a catastrophe, a Senator from West Virginia said Thursday.

Border agents may have to contend with 18,000 illegal immigrants a day, the estimate from the Department of Homeland Security, taking their attention away from the flow of illegal narcotics such as cocaine and fentanyl into the country, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said.

“This will move from a crisis that we have now to a catastrophe at our southern border,” Capito said.

Title 42 was imposed by the Centers for Disease Control at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and allowed border officials to turn back migrants without initiating the process for asylum. The repeal announced Friday takes effect May 23 and opponents believe it will lead to a surge of immigrants.

“I think it goes to our own security, it also goes to our economics and certainly every state is impacted,” Capito said during a press conference with reporters from West Virginia on Thursday afternoon by Zoom.

Capito and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have signed onto a bill to require the Biden Administration to delay repeal.

The bill prevents ending the authority under Title 42 until at least 60 days after ending the national emergency declaration on the pandemic. The Department of Homeland Security would then have 30 days to submit a plan to Congress about the impact of a migrant surge.

“Title 42 has been an important tool in combating the spread of COVID-19 and controlling the influx of migrants at our southern border,” Manchin said in a press release.

The Capito press conference also touched on the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, legislation creating business models for recycling operations, police training to de-escalate a situation, ethics rules for the Supreme Court and climate, among other issues.

The administration talks about climate change despite lower emissions and technological advancements, an international crisis, inflation, supply chain and workforce issues and other issues, she said.

“They’re kind of displaced from reality,” Capito said.