Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) called on the Biden administration to not deport any more Haitians who illegally enter the U.S. and to end using Title 42 to conduct expulsions along the U.S.-Mexico border.
September saw a dramatic increase in illegal immigrants, many of whom were Haitians but had come from South America where they were living previously, entering the U.S. in Del Rio, Texas. The large influx overwhelmed Border Patrol, forcing them to stage the immigrants under the international bridge in third-world-like conditions. While many were allowed to be released into the U.S., a few thousand were deported to Haiti.
"I just want to say this. We should end Title 42 and we have to rescue those Haitian — those wonderful missionaries that are there. I want to be engaged and will be engaged. We’ve got to do it safely and we must not deport anymore Haitians in a crisis-focused nation that Haiti is right now," Jackson Lee told MSNBC on Wednesday. "And I’d be happy to come back and talk to you about it. I will be working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stop Title 42. It must stop."
Jackson Lee visited Del Rio and the camp in September, but only after the camp under the bridge had been emptied out by Border Patrol.
Title 42 was first implemented by President Donald Trump's administration during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the order is to expedite removals of people who illegally enter the country in order to prevent overcrowding in Border Patrol facilities so people do not give each other the virus. Opponents to Title 42 say it wrongfully denies asylum-seekers the chance to make their case to U.S. immigration authorities.
The number of Mexican military troops devoted to migration enforcement continues to grow slowly reaching now 28,634, per numbers released today. The massive deployment of Mexican troops for this task was largely the product of Trump's pressure but has continued under Biden. pic.twitter.com/F1j1VTWglN
— José Díaz-Briseño (@diazbriseno) October 20, 2021
The battle over the continued use of Title 42 is against more caravans of immigrants currently making their way through Mexico. While the Mexican government has sent more troops to their northern border, it is plagued with corruption in the north as drug cartels and human trafficking organizations exert more control along the border.