Biden Immigration Policies Threaten Pandemic Recovery - Washington Free Beacon

America's fight against COVID-19 could be hindered by President Joe Biden's handling of the immigration crisis as new variants from around the world cause a spike in domestic hospitalizations.

In virtually every public appearance by Biden, the pandemic takes center stage. When he or his health care advisers address the country they stress that the coronavirus remains a public health crisis, even as they quietly order border agencies to work around the clock to roll back coronavirus protections. At the Department of Homeland Security, staffers are preparing for the end of Title 42—a legal provision that allows the federal government to essentially halt all migration into the country during a pandemic. DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the law is "no longer required as a public health measure" in an internal memo, although he has yet to give a hard date on when the White House will officially revoke it. Experts estimate that Title 42 blocked more than 750,000 asylum-seekers from crossing the southern border since it's been enforced during the pandemic.


House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said the Biden administration's mismanagement at the border has exacerbated the immigration and pandemic crises. He called the rescission of Title 42 galling in light of reports that Biden is flirting with renewing mask mandates nationwide to deal with spikes in coronavirus levels.

"Biden’s open-border policies undermine the country’s COVID response, which means now is not the time to revoke critical Title 42 authority," McCarthy told the Washington Free Beacon. "This is a policy that protects public health, and if removed, it would only make a crisis situation even worse."

The White House did not return a request for comment.

Staff within Customs and Border Protection have expressed fear that they work at the forefront of new variants directly putting their health at risk. An internal mask mandate for officers on the southern border, including for those already vaccinated, gave little assurance that things would return to normal any time soon.