US lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, pressed Democratic President Joe Biden on Sunday to take action to manage an expected wave of asylum seekers at the US southern border when COVID-era restrictions end this week.
US border cities are bracing for an influx of asylum seekers after a US judge moved in November to strike down a policy enacted by the Trump administration in 2020 that has allowed immigration authorities to quickly send asylum seekers back to Mexico and other countries.
The policy, known as Title 42, will end on December 21, and thousands of asylum seekers have been lining up at the US-Mexico border ahead of the relaxation of restrictions.
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On Saturday, the west Texas border city of El Paso declared a state of emergency, citing hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in freezing temperatures and the thousands who are detained every day. “This is a very serious situation,” Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Gonzales called on Biden to revive previous policies that tried to speed up asylum review and expedite deportations.
US Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who also represents Texas, urged Biden to enact a policy requiring people to only apply for asylum at official border points.
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“And if they don’t follow that path, they have to go back,” Cuellar told “Face the Nation.”
Republicans have made calls for tougher immigration policies a key message in their 2022 midterm election campaigns. After winning a narrow majority in the US House of Representatives in November, some Republican lawmakers are calling for the dismissal of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, for what they see as a failure of the border policy under Biden.
One of the strongest Republican voices in favor of a tougher border policy, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, told ABC News on Sunday that the end of Title 42 would bring “total chaos.”
While Gonzales, the Republican lawmaker, said the United States was about to receive an “immigrant hurricane,” the Biden administration rejected arguments that ending Title 42 amounted to opening the US borders to illegal immigrants. .
“These are not people trying to cross the border illegally,” Keisha Lance Bottoms, a White House aide, said on “Face the Nation.” “These are people who are coming forward, asking to be prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the United States.”
Still, the pressure seemed to be mounting on the Biden administration, even within his own party. US Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat, who also appeared on “Face the Nation,” urged Biden to call for an extension of Title 42.
“The president needs to find a way,” Manchin said.
