The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Title 42, a legal provision used to expel assylum-seekers, will remain in place for now.
The Title 42 has been at the centre of political rhetoric and policy debates lately as the United States faces a crisis at the US-Mexico border.
Photos and videos of thousands of people waiting on the Mexican side of the border to cross into the United States have done rounds throughout December. While many in the United States, particularly Republicans, see this as an issue of law and order, the situation is also developing into a humanitarian crisis as lodging and supplies run low and several hundreds are forced to take shelter on roads amid severe cold sweeping several parts of the United States.
The Supreme Court will hear the Title 42 case in February or March. This means the provision will remain till then President Joe Biden's administration has some time to put together a plan.
Here we explain what's Title 42, what's the extent of the US-Mexico border crisis, and what's the likely future of the crisis.
What's Title 42, how is central to US border crisis?
Though it has become central to the border crisis and immigration debate, the Title 42 is not an immigration law. It's a public health legal provision.
The Title 42 is part of the Public Health Service Act of 1944. It allows non-citizens to be denied entry into the United States if they are coming from a place known to have a disease outbreak. It's similar to entry or travel restrictions imposed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The US federal government activated Title 42 in March 2020 and it has been in place since.
Under the provision, 1.6 million people have been denied entry. However, this has not done much to prevent illegal crossings as data suggests the crossings this year were the highest in years.
This point is being used by both supporters and critics of Title 42, with supporters saying that the already-dire situation will get worse if Title 42 is lifted and the critics saying that Title 42 has clearly failed to prevent illegal crossings, so it's not the solution anyway.
How bad is the US border crisis?
The US border crisis can be understood through numbers.
During October 2021-September 2022, almost 3 million people entered illegally into the United States, as per available data.
Data on the website of US Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) shows 23,78,944 crossers encountered by the agency this year. Then there are crossers who could not be intercepted by CBP.
"Add to that the estimated 6,00,000 illegal crossers who got away without any contact with the Border Patrol, and that means close to 3 million border crossers in a single year," noted Washington Examiner.
The Examiner noted the number was 2.1 million in 2021 and around 3,00,000 in 2017 and 2020.
The city of El Paso in Taxas is at the centre of the border crisis.
During August-December, 84,082 immigrants were released into the city, reported Examiner. The immigrants have been released and they would be required to attend hearings of their assylum cases which are expected to run for years.
The entry of such a large number of immigrants has led to resource-crunch and charities as well as CBP facilities running out of lodging. The regional airport and a stadium were repurposed to house immigrants. But that's not enough and several immigrants are putting up on roads in cold temperatures, indicating a brewing humanitarian crisis as well.
During October-November, more than 4,11,000 illegal crossings were reported, which is higher than for the rest of the year.
"Agents have caught more than 411,000 aliens who entered illegally over the Southwest border. That’s more apprehensions in just two months than agents made in all of FY 2011, FY 2012, FY 2015, FY 2016, FY 2017, FY 2018, or FY 2020," noted Andrew R. Arthur of Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
El Paso declares emergency over humanitarian concerns
El Paso's Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser this month declared emergency as he said migrants were no longer assured safety.
Leeser said the city was struggling with resources to provice shelter to migrants which meant several hundreds had to put up in the open in cold.
He said, "I said from the beginning that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum-seekers or community were not safe. And I really believe that today, our asylum-seekers are not safe as we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets, and that’s not the way we want to treat people. We know the influx on [Dec. 21] will be incredible. It will be huge. On Wednesday, our numbers will go from 2,500 to 4,000, 5,000, maybe 6,000."
While Lesser said the numbers could go up to 6,000, reports have said numbers as high as 8,000 a day have already been reported this month.
Such high numbers are way above the number of 1,000 that Barack Obama's administration set for being a crisis.
"Recently, the Border Patrol reported encountering 16,000 immigrants in just 48 hours — 8,000 per day. Compare that to the assessment of Jeh Johnson, former President Barack Obama's head of homeland security, who once said 1,000 encounters a day constituted a crisis. Now, there are predictions that post-Title 42 encounters might hit as many as 14,000 a day," noted Examiner.
At places, as shelter and supplies run low for migrants, local communities and businesses have stepped up to provide food and other support to migrants.
Alfredo Corchado of Los Angeles Times noted that the influx is unparalleled since 1910.
What's next for US border crisis?
Though Title 42 has become central to the US border crisis, it's not an immigration law and it will therefore have to go at some point.
Fox News's Bill Melugin noted the provision will eventually end and there is no way several thousands of migrants waiting at the border will just go back.
He said, "Realistically, the Supreme Court ruling on keeping Title 42 in place for now is simply delaying the inevitable. Title 42 is not immigration law, it is a public health rule being used for immigration purposes. It has to drop eventually, and the migrants waiting in Mexico aren’t going back home."
The crisis also highlights the failure of President Joe Biden's administration to reach a solution and of the Congress to reform immigration laws.
The CNN noted, "Even some Democrats are warning that an huge influx of immigrants next week could cause multiple adverse consequences. Critics say the administration took too long to engage on the issue and hasn’t done enough, though they also fault Congress for failing for decades to reform the immigration system and border enforcement – a goal that polls repeatedly show the public supports."
The immediate concern, however, is the humanitarian crisis. One person has already died after falling to death while climbing the border wall, as per a report. Multiple reports show visuals of immigrants in freezing cold out in the open.
Amid this, one thing is likely to be sure. The Title 42 will go since it's a public health measure and it cannot cover up immigration policy failure for a long time. Something similar was said by Conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch who dissented in the ruling to keep the Title 42 for now.
He noted, "The current border crisis is not a COVID crisis. And courts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency. We are a court of law, not policymakers of last resort."
