PHOENIX, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Federal and State governments are expecting a surge of immigrants crossing the border if the Biden Administration follows through with plans to drop health-related immigration restrictions in less than a month.
State officials are fighting the change—and preparing for it.
The policy called Title 42 allows the government to limit immigration to reduce the chance of infectious disease entering the U.S.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and other state attorneys general convinced a judge to put a temporary restraining order on dropping Title 42 enforcement. Brnovich says he’s prepared to go to the Supreme Court if the judge does not agree to make the order permanent.
Brnovich contends it’s valid to use a health law for immigration because of the health danger of cross border drug smuggling.
“We know that fentanyl overdoses are the leading causes of death amongst our young folks and people under 19. We know that as a country, more than 100,000 people died just last year as a result of overdose, overdose deaths. So people are dying in this country. That is a public health crisis.“
The Biden Administration has estimated if it lifts Title 42 as scheduled on May 23 the backlog of immigrants could lead to 18 thousand entries per day nationwide. Pima County estimates it could receive 650 per day as immigrants pass through to families around the country that will sponsor them as they wait for their immigration applications to be decided.
Tim Roemer, Governor Doug Ducey’s Director of Homeland Security says that’ll put a real strain on shelters and lead CBP to release migrants on the streets.
“The street releases are not good for any community. They create public panic. They’re not good for the migrants. It’s not good from a humanitarian perspective. It’;s not how the United State should be handling immigration, or the asylum process or anything and that’s what’s going to happen if Title 42 goes away.”
He says the state is already preparing to funnel more resources to shelters, health facilities and law enforcement in border communities.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.