I live in the UK and I’ve been reading loads of news articles about it and I don’t understand. So Article 42 was a law that tightened border crossings to stop people crossing because of Covid 19? Now that it’s due to expire lots of people are going to the border panicking that they won’t be able to cross when it expires? Have I got that right? But my question is, why are people panicking that it will be harder to cross when it expires? Wouldn’t it make it easier?
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https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-border-title-42-mexico-asylum-be4e0b15b27adb9bede87b9bbefb798d
Technically no. The news has really done a poor job of explaining this.
Title 42 of the US Code is several laws. It covers public health, social welfare, and civil rights.
In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, the government utilized 42 USC 264: regulations to control communicable diseases, to prevent the spread of COVID.
The big impact here was that it basically denied all asylum requests and made it quick and easy to deport immigrants.
It’s not going to make the border harder to cross. It’s actually making it easier to stay longer as asylum requests will now be processed.
Title 42 gave the US government a quick shortcut to say “no” to asylum claims under public health laws.
Now that the public health crisis is over, the Title 42 shortcut is over.
It will be easier for people to seek asylum now.
Other rules are being changed, but that has nothing to do with Title 42.
Short answer: Title 42 let the USA eject people crossing the border seeking asylum because Covid was going on. Now that Covid is done, so is the legal justification to eject people trying to get in on asylum. So, now the immigration people have to take your asylum application, give you a court date, and let you loose inside the USA.
so basically, foreigners can seek asylum again, which under title 42 was not allowed. idk why they’d want to enter the US, they’re just gonna be discriminated and possibly murdered with all the gun violence going on. not a good place to live and raise families.
Other people have already explained Title 42. I would like to add that a lot of misinformation gets spread, especially amongst those seeking to immigrate and by human traffickers. They might spread the message, for example, that “the border is now open”. This triggers a surge in immigration. That is what the concern with Title 42 expiring really boils down to I think.
Unfortunately and ironically, some political circles will engage in similar disinformation, mainly in an attempt to attack and discredit the party in power: the border is wide open, anybody can freely cross, this will bring rampant crime and civil unrest to the streets of America, etc.
Our asylum laws require someone to cross into the United States and then present themselves to an official and ask to declare asylum. This creates a legal asylum case and begins a looong legal process. Most of this time the person’s asylum is rejected at the end of it, with people from Mexico having the least success overall.
During COVID they put in a rule that allowed them to basically deny people who didn’t even cross and present themselves. So that part is what is ending.
Article 42 is a set of laws regarding public health regulation. It was used during COVID to “lockdown” the border and make it harder for immigrants and asylum seekers to enter the US. Those COVID restrictions expiring will not make it harder for people to cross the border, it will make it easier and there are literally tens of thousands of people gathering to basically swarm the border in a mass entry wave.