Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is “telling whoppers” when he says he has no sway over the use of Title 42 at the southern border, according to a Republican lawmaker.
Rep. Brian Babin of Texas said Mayorkas has more power than he let on to advocate the continued use of the pandemic-era rule allowing law enforcement to turn away migrants on the basis of public health.
The DHS chief testified before the House Judiciary Committee earlier Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has “exclusive authority” over the rule that is set to expire May 23.
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“Absolutely, he can make recommendations,” Babin said at a Republican Study Committee press conference Wednesday. “Certainly, he doesn’t sit on the CDC — I understand that — but it is absolutely disingenuous for him to sit there and tell the Border Security Caucus and the Judiciary Committee and anybody else that he has no say over Title 42.”
Babin added that if Mayorkas recommended to the Biden administration that Title 42 remain in place, “it would carry a lot of weight.”
The CDC recommended April 1 that the public health crisis was no longer severe enough to warrant use of the policy. Both Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland have deferred to the health agency’s ruling on pandemic issues and said they only have the authority to enforce, not decide.
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“It is based on their expert assessment of the public health needs of the American public, and they decide whether the Title 42 authority remains necessary as a public health imperative based on the public health data that they obtained and their expert decision based on it,” Mayorkas said.
Title 42 is one of the few ways border agencies can turn away illegal immigrants, and the number of encounters with migrants is expected to reach 18,000 per day after the measure is revoked. A federal judge on Monday barred the Biden administration from ending it, but the administration has since appealed.
