Biden Administration Braces for Potential Spike in Border Crossings Ahead of Title 42 Termination

Migrants' tents lie on the riverbed on the US side of the US-Mexico border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on April 30, 2023. 

The Biden organization is doing whatever it takes to plan for the conclusion of a Trump-age request that permits specialists to promptly remove transients found crossing into the US - an improvement that is supposed to get a spike endeavored southern line intersections.

Mexican officials agreed to continue to accept migrants from at least four countries who are sent back from the U.S.

“Today, the United States committed to continue to welcome individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela under our parole process,” the White House said in a statement. “For its part, Mexico will continue to accept back migrants on humanitarian grounds.”

The agreement came after the Biden administration on Tuesday announced plans to deploy 1,500 active-duty servicemembers to the southwestern U.S. border in the coming days.

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The active-duty troops “will not directly participate in law enforcement activities,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday.

Ryder and others from the Biden administration tried to paint the move as “consistent with other forms of military support to DHS over many years” amid criticisms that the decision was similar to actions taken by the Trump administration.

“DOD personnel have been supporting [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] at the border for almost two decades now,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “So this is a common practice.”

Still, some Democrats were not happy with the move.

“The Biden administration’s militarization of the border is unacceptable,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. “There is already a humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere, and deploying military personnel only signals that migrants are a threat that require our nation’s troops to contain. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Additionally, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas plans to travel to Texas this week to review preparations for the end to Title 42. Former President Donald Trump initially invoked Title 42 in early 2020. Critics accused the administration of using the virus to crack down on illegal migration, and activists have also taken issue with Biden for not rescinding the measure earlier in his presidency.

It’s unclear if the Biden administration’s multitude of actions will prevent chaos at the border next week when the restrictions are lifted, though President Joe Biden surely wants to avoid a political crisis after recently announcing his reelection bid.