The Biden administration has faced, and continues to face, significant pushback from open borders activists over its use of Title 42 to deny migrants access to the United States.
Consider this exchange between Michael Isikoff and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from Tuesday:
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: I’ll answer that question quite directly. Let me first just set the table a little bit because with respect to the Haitians in particular, the exercise of the government’s authority has drawn two criticisms. One is the use of Title 42, which is a Centers for Disease Control public health authority, No. 1. And No. 2, we’ve received criticism for the fact that on top of the fact that we are exercising that CDC Title 42 authority, we’re returning individuals to Haiti.
…
I want to make it clear, though, that the criticism of Title 42 is not specific to the Haitian population, but, frankly, across the southern border, where that authority has been exercised as to the irregular migration, the individuals encountered in between the ports of entry regardless of country of origin, and the Title 42 authority is a public health authority, and it is not an immigration policy. It is not an immigration policy that we in this administration would embrace, but we view it as a public health imperative as the Centers for Disease Control has so ordered.
Got that? According to the man in charge of the DHS, Title 42 is “not an immigration policy.”
Which is weird because here is what the Washington Post reported on Friday on DHS efforts to revive President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy:
So, which is it? Is Title 42 “not an immigration policy” or is it “the primary enforcement mechanism for illegal border crossings.”
Of course, the answer is it is absolutely an immigration policy, especially the way the Biden administration has arbitrarily enforced it. Sometimes, it used it to expel all Haitians, sometimes not. Sometimes, families with children are let in, sometimes not. Sometimes, single migrant adults with family in the U.S. are let in, sometimes not. None of these decisions have anything to do with public health. They all have everything to do with trying to maintain a semblance of order on a lawless border while also keeping open borders activists happy.
It is a tough policy to defend, which is why Mayorkas is so eager to pass the blame on to the CDC.
