Nebraska lawmakers worry about end of Title 42, but will much change at border?

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Trump-era border restriction known as Title 42 expires at midnight Thursday amid an influx of migrants.

The Border Patrol apprehended around 10,000 people on Tuesday alone, which an official speaking with the Associated Press said was one of its busiest days ever.

The head of migrant programs for Catholic Relief Services estimates that about 55,000 migrants were in Mexico’s border cities on Wednesday.

Most of them are fleeing persecution or poverty in their home countries.

But asylum-seekers may find that not much has changed at the border.

Title 42 allowed the government to turn away migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But even after the expiration, the U.S. will still deny asylum to those who arrive without applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through.

“We are making it very clear that our border is not open, that crossing irregularly is against the law and that those who are not eligible for relief will be quickly returned,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., said the government has a responsibility to end human and drug trafficking at the border, while still letting in legal immigrants.

“America has always been a welcoming country,” he said. “All the colleagues I’ve talked to, we want immigration. We want the people we need in this country to be able to come here.”

Ricketts said the problem is that the Biden administration has been too welcoming, attracting so many asylum-seekers that there aren’t enough resources to process everyone.

Ricketts and Sen. Deb Fischer agree that there needs to be more security at the border to handle the situation.

Fischer said at a press conference Thursday that Biden’s decision to stop construction on the border wall has added to the problem.

“He’s created a preventable catastrophe; there’s no question about that,” she said. “This is illegal immigration, and it’s going to get worse. This is chaos at the border, and it’s going to get worse.”

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden told reporters that the border would be “chaotic for a while” but that “the purpose of what we’re doing now is making legal immigration more streamlined, illegal immigration shorter term.”

The administration’s new policy will require home curfews and GPS monitoring of migrant families seeking asylum, while officials decide if they should be deported.

Rose Godinez with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska said Biden’s approach doesn’t solve the problem and continues to restrict immigrants seeking asylum.

“Policies like Title 42 that have prevented people from exercising their right to seek asylum have existed now for three years,” she said. “So, it should not be surprising to see that people are now coming to the border in hopes that they will actually be heard.”

Godinez believes lawmakers in all states should be creating safer, more efficient pathways for people to seek legal asylum in the U.S., rather than expelling immigrants altogether.

“Immigrants are our friends, they’re our family, they’re our neighbors, they’re our teachers, they’re our counselors,” she said. “They’re working in meatpacking plants that help the agricultural industry in Nebraska. And they sorely need bipartisan solutions to reform the system and make it work.”