CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s U.S. senators on Friday criticized the Biden administration’s decision to end the Title 42 public health order.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the termination of the policy. Title 42 has required the expulsion of unauthorized single adults and families arriving in the United States to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The termination takes effect May 23.
The Trump administration implemented the policy in March 2020 as the United States and other countries began lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., called the action a “frightening decision” in a statement.
“Title 42 has been an essential tool in combatting the spread of COVID-19 and controlling the influx of migrants at our southern border. We are already facing an unprecedented increase in migrants this year, and that will only get worse if the Administration ends the Title 42 policy,” he said. “We are nowhere near prepared to deal with that influx. Until we have comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform that commits to securing our borders and providing a pathway to citizenship for qualified immigrants, Title 42 must stay in place.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., argued the Biden administration made “a crisis that is about to balloon into a full blown catastrophe.”
“Rescinding the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Title 42 Authority will put our Border Patrol agents in an even more dire situation,” she added.
Capito said federal facilities are already over capacity, and the move would negatively impact how the United States handles immigrants who enter the country illegally.
“Our immigration system is not designed for persistent irregular mass migration that will result from this poorly thought out decision,” she said.
Manchin has asked the CDC to extend the policy because of the concerns about rising coronavirus case numbers in other countries and an increase in migrant encounters.