The End of Title 42
By: Ariel Carmona
As the Covid-19 Emergency Immigration Rule is Lifted, uncertainty is heightened for asylum-seekers
Since the beginning of America’s history, those who are in search of freedom and are searching for better opportunities will come to the U.S, whether legally or illegally. Those people will do everything in their will power to cross the border to have a better prospering life. This has been an issue for many many years. Several migrants heard about Title 42 and they took this as a chance to start a new life.
About 35,0000 gathered around the El Paso border on May 11 waiting for the drastic change in immigration policy at the border. Title 42, which was enacted in March of 2020 - at the peak of CoronaVirus - was former President Donald Trump’s temporary rule as an emergency response to the worldwide health crisis. Title 42 was made to address public health and social welfare, being used to override the immigration law that allowed people to ask for asylum after entering illegally.
In the hours after Title 42 was lifted 10,000 people per day tried to cross the border. Many immigrants were standing in the scorching sun with no food just with their clothes on their backs. According to the Texas Tribute it was said that “Federal, State, and border officials across 2,000 mile radius U.S-Mexico border have implemented series of policies to prepare for the chaotic crisis” many immigrants that were found waiting had to prove that they are allowed to cross the border legally if not those who crossed without permission were detained and removed from the area.
A similar event in Florida is occurring where the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed the Senate Bill 1718 to address the dangerous events of illegal immigration. The restrictions were that employers that were employing “illegal aliens” would be granted penalties. This immigration bill limits social services for immigrants lacking permanent legal status. Written in an article by AP news “ The immigration bill also requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to have a citizenship question in order to identify immigrants living in the U.S illegally from seeking Medicare.” This bill was issued a few days before the expiration of Title 42, and is an effort by the Florida governor to dramatically reduce the number of immigrants. DeSantis claims that it must be done to prevent a border crisis in the future so that there's less crimes committed by illegal immigrants. The effect on actual people in this country is disruptive to the lives they have built in the U.S.
Several people from other countries seek asylum mainly because of the poor conditions of their country and bad salaries. Immigrants trying to flee have families to provide for and dreams to pursue and they work paycheck to paycheck to get food on the table. It’s no secret that their country is not supporting their own citizens. Title 42 was used as a safety net for many immigrants and provided many with the opportunity to be let into the U.S but now that the restriction is lifted it has raised questions and created uncertainty about what the future has in store for migrants coming to this country.