Nearly one week after a federal judge ordered the Title 42 public health rule to continue, the southern border crisis continues unabated. Title 42 allows the immediate deportation of some migrants who are deemed potential public health threats due to the spread of diseases, including COVID-19. The Biden administration is trying to end it. But keeping the rule is only akin to having a finger in the dike, as migrants and asylum seekers flood the southern border.
Even with Title 42 in place, border crossings are already setting all-time records. Mark H. Metcalf, former federal immigration judge under President George W. Bush, says Title 42 cannot solve the crisis. "Title 42 is just one of the tools in the tool bag that helps us interdict traffic entering the United States anywhere," he tells KTRH. "It has been particularly useful along the southern border."
"But the real protections come when you put the walls back up, and you have active border patrol agents interdicting, and making arrests," he continues.
Metcalf also notes another federal policy that the Biden administration was ordered to continue. "The MPP...Migrant Protection Protocols," he says. Also known as Remain in Mexico, this rule requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their cases to be heard. "We need to fully put back the MPP, and to have Customs and Border Protection actively patrolling and making arrests," says Metcalf.
Regardless of federal court cases and rulings, Metcalf believes the ultimate solution to the crisis will likely require new federal leadership. "The thing that will eventually draw this to a close is to have elections, which put in place people who favor secure and sovereign borders," he says. "That's the real remedy."
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