DHS Secretary speaks on planning and operations ahead of Title 42 lift
WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spoke Wednesday on the planning ahead of the lifting of the Title 42 public health order Thursday.
After more than 11,000 migrants were caught crossing the southern border on Tuesday, the Biden administration is now preparing a memo that will direct Customs and Border Protection to begin releasing migrants into the U.S. without court dates or the ability to track them, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
"Even after nearly two years of preparation, we expect to see large numbers of encounters at our southern border in the days and weeks after May 11. We are already seeing high numbers of encounters in certain sectors. This places an incredible strain on our personnel, our facilities and our communities with whom we partner closely. Our plan will deliver results, but it will take time for those results to be fully realized. And it is essential that we all take this into account," Mayorkas said.
The Biden administration began releasing migrants without court dates to alleviate overcrowding in March 2021, but it had previously enrolled those migrants in a program known as "Alternatives to Detention," which required them to check in on a mobile app until they were eventually given a court date.
The new policy would release them on parole with a notice to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office, but without enrolling them in the program.
Mayorkas largely blamed Congress for the current situation at the southern border.
"I cannot over emphasize that our current situation is the outcome of Congress leaving a broken outdated immigration system in place for over two decades despite unanimous agreement that we desperately need legislative reform. It is also the result of Congress's decision not to provide us with the resources we need and that we requested. All of our efforts within the constraints of our broken immigration system are focused on ensuring that the process is safe, orderly and humane, all while protecting our dedicated workforce and our communities," Mayorkas spoke.
