Experts on Title 42: At Some Point, We Have to "Rip Off This Bandage"

Angi Gonzalez, Spectrum News1, Apr. 12, 2022

"The Trump administration enacted the restrictions in March 2020 when the pandemic erupted. “(The policy) said that for public health reasons they were going to turn back most people who tried to enter from Mexico into the United States, if they did not already have a valid visa like a tourist visa,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law at Cornell University. ... “Right now, Customs and Border Protection is exempting nearly 800 Ukrainians a day from Title 42, saying that they don’t need to be excluded by this public health authority. But, the Biden administration has expelled more than 10,000 Haitians back to a country that they themselves say is too dangerous to deport people to. The way it has been carried out has disproportionately affected certain nationalities,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Policy Counsel at the American Immigration Council. ... “Title 42 is sort of like a garden hose that has been bottled up. All the people that would normally come in at regular flows over the years have been sort of stymied and held up at the border. And of course, if they lift Title 42, that surge now is going to be coming across the border and temporarily could pose problems for the Border Patrol,” said Yale-Loehr. ... “The problem is that Title 42 itself is causing an increase at crossings and the reality is, at some point, you’re going to have to rip off this bandage. There’s never going to be a perfect moment to lift Title 42," added Reichlin-Melnick."