Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody appeared on Fox News Thursday night to push back against the Biden administration for their plan to allow the expiration of Title 42 which allows U.S. Department of Homeland Security to quickly expel migrants at the border due to health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawmakers claim that a Title 42 reversal would result in an overwhelming surge of migrants that southern states do not have the capacity to deal with, fearful of the proliferation of an already occurring migrant crisis in southern states. The Biden administration announced in April that it will officially end the border restrictions known as Title 42 on May 23, as the Center for Disease Control claims that migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border have ceased to be a serious danger to public health.
“I think even Democrats are calling this a frightening proposal,” said Moody. “We’re arguing that this has not been thought through. There is no plan, no plan to combat this overwhelming surge that will occur as a result.”
Florida politicians from both parties have been fiercely critical of the potential revoking of border restrictions, fearful that an influx of migrants could put pressure on the state’s infrastructure.
“They’re making policy decisions that are putting their states and their people at risk. And as Attorney General, Governor DeSantis and I both will push back on all of these reckless, shortsighted policies” Moody told co-host Todd Piro, emphasizing how states feel that the Biden administration is “working against them”.
Sen. Marco Rubio last week introduced a bill to Congress that would extend the Title 42 border protections.
Rubio’s bill aims to extend the border protections, which have yet to be fully rescinded, until February 2025. The Florida Senator is utilizing what is known as “Rule 14,” allowing the piece of legislation to bypass committee meetings and be placed directly on the Senate calendar.
“Rescinding Title 42 may be Biden’s biggest mistake thus far, and that is a really long list,” Rubio said. “With this action, he is opening our borders and inviting a massive surge of illegal immigration – likely the biggest in U.S. history – that will inflict a lasting and avoidable crisis onto our nation. Ending Title 42 enforcement is reckless, dangerous, and puts our communities in harm’s way.”
On March 12, the Center for Disease Control announced it was dropping Title 42 for unaccompanied children, but left the policy in place for others migrants, according to NPR.
In a letter to DHS last week, a group of Republican senators, led by Rick Scott, asked about the agency’s preparations for “the anticipated surge of illegal border crossings.”
“This administration’s open border policies are fueling deadly criminal activity and horrific abuses by the barbaric cartels facilitating those illegal border crossings, including reports of sex trafficking, torture, and forced labor,” reads the letter. “The Department should be focused on securing our borders, enforcing all immigration laws, and providing all necessary resources to CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain and remove all who violate our laws.”