WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales (TX-23) joined Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) in leading a letter from members of the Texas delegation to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra urging that Title 42 remain in place until the historic level of migrant crossings at the southern border is brought down through appropriate deterrent measures. Title 42 is a public health authority that has enabled Border Patrol to conduct rapid expulsions at the southwest border since March 2020.
Read the full letter here.
“We understand that this legal authority is temporary and tied to the COVID-19 public health emergency, but DHS appears unprepared to handle a likely unprecedented increase in apprehensions along the southwest border,” they wrote.
“At the current levels of cross-border migration, DHS currently lacks adequate capacity to process and detain all migrants apprehended along the southwest border… Furthermore, small border communities lack the appropriate housing, transportation, and healthcare infrastructure to manage the ongoing release of migrant populations into their jurisdictions.”
“We urge that the CDC’s Title 42 order remain in place and that DHS continue to use it until such time as the number of apprehensions along the southwest border drops to a manageable level.”
Representatives Kay Granger (TX-12), Michael McCaul (TX-10), Kevin Brady (TX-08), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), John Carter (TX-31), Brian Babin (TX-36), Jake Ellzey (TX-06), August Pfluger (TX-11), Randy Weber (TX-14), Pete Sessions (TX-17), Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Michael C. Burgess (TX-26), Van Taylor (TX-03), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Lance Gooden (TX-05), Roger Williams (TX-25), Pat Fallon (TX-04), and Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) also signed the letter.
BACKGROUND
- Under Title 42, it can take 15 minutes to deport an illegal border crosser.
- Under its alternative, Title 8, that process could balloon to 50 hours for a single adult and 62 hours for a family unit.
- That additional time would lead to more backlogs and cause detention centers to be even more overwhelmed, leading to even more releases along the border.