[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1995-S1996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Title 42 and the Border

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we are moving from disaster to catastrophe 
at our southern border. Last week, the Biden administration announced 
that title 42 COVID-19 restrictions, which had provided for the 
immediate deportation of those who crossed the border illegally, will 
end in May.
  Now, it is ironic that just as the administration presses for more 
COVID funding, it is apparently declaring COVID is over at the border. 
Now, I just want everybody to think about the inherent contradiction in 
what is being said here. By ending title 42, the administration says, 
for all intents and purposes, the pandemic is over; it is over at the 
border. But, today, it was announced that the student loan program--
repayments on student loans--would be extended until the month of 
August. Why? Presumably because of the pandemic.
  There is still a policy in place, Mr. President, if you can believe 
this--yesterday, I had the chance to question, at the Senate Finance 
Committee, Secretary Becerra of the Health and Human Services 
Department about a policy that is in place right now that has not yet 
been repealed that requires children under 5 in Head Start facilities 
to wear masks--masks not just when they are in the classroom but when 
they are outside on the playground--children under 5, to wear masks.
  Now, who says that is a bad idea? Well, for one, the World Health 
Organization. The World Health Organization isn't exactly a 
conservative-leaning institution. The World Health Organization says 
that it is not necessary for children under 5 to wear a mask because 
there is no discernible health or safety benefit derived from that.
  So that policy is still in place. Kids under the age of 5 at Head 
Start facilities still have to wear masks, not just inside but when 
they are outside.
  Now student loans, again, have been deferred. You don't have to repay 
your student loans at least until August. It has been extended again.
  These policies reflect a belief on behalf of the administration that 
we are evidently still in a pandemic that requires these policies to 
stay in place.
  So the student loan deferral request has been made or is going to 
happen. They are just going to do it. So they are doing that by fiat. 
And this rule that requires children under 5 to wear masks suggests we 
are still very concerned about the pandemic and about the spread of 
COVID-19. Yet, Mr. President, title 42 is going to be lifted at the 
border, which is a pandemic measure. It was put in place as a result of 
the pandemic and has enabled our officials at the border, Customs and 
Border Protection, to be able to at least somewhat manage the flow of 
illegals coming across the border. Think about that. Think about the 
inherent contradiction, the messages that you are sending--in addition, 
I would add, to the $10 billion, which was originally $15 billion, that 
is being requested by the administration to deal with COVID.
  So you are asking for more funding. You are requiring kids to wear 
masks. You are extending the deferral on student loan repayments. Yet 
you are lifting title 42 restrictions.
  Let me tell you what that means. Once title 42 restrictions are 
officially lifted, the flood of illegal immigration across our southern 
border is expected to become a tsunami. The Department of Homeland 
Security expects as many as 18,000 per day to attempt to cross our 
southern border after the policy is lifted--18,000 per day. That adds 
up to more than half a million migrants per month.

  To put those numbers in perspective, in fiscal year 2021, Border 
Patrol encountered more than 1.7 million individuals attempting to 
cross our southern border. That was the highest number ever recorded in 
a single year. Now we are talking about a rate of migration that would 
lead to our hitting that 1-year record in just over 3 months.
  Title 42 restrictions were never intended to be a permanent border 
solution, and lifting them would not be a problem if the President had 
some meaningful plan in place for dealing with the border crisis that 
has been going on since he took office, but he doesn't--again, 
evidenced by the fact that the President has no interest in visiting 
the border, nor has his border czar, the Vice President of the United 
States. Neither has been to the border.
  Lifting title 42 without a plan to curb illegal immigration is 
nothing more than an invitation for our current crisis to get 
exponentially worse, which is exactly, exactly what the Department of 
Homeland Security expects is going to happen.
  Now, you don't have to take my word for it on these problems with the 
administration's decision. Here is what one Democratic Senator had to 
say about the administration's title 42 decision:

       This is a wrong decision. It's unacceptable to end Title 42 
     without a plan and coordination in place to ensure a secure, 
     orderly, and humane process at the border.
       This is a wrong decision. It's unacceptable to end Title 42 
     without a plan and coordination in place to ensure a secure, 
     orderly, and humane process at the border.

  That is from a Democratic Senator.
  Another Democratic Senator noted:

       I think this is not the right time and we have not seen a 
     detailed plan from the administration. We need assurances 
     that we have security at the border and that we protect 
     communities on this side of the border.

  Another Democratic Senator.
  This is another Democratic Senator, a third one:

       Today's announcement by the CDC and the Biden 
     Administration is a frightening decision. Title 42 has been 
     an essential tool in combatting the spread of COVID-19 and 
     controlling the influx of migrants at our southern border. We 
     are already facing an unprecedented increase in migrants this 
     year, and that will only get worse if the Administration ends 
     the Title 42 policy. We are nowhere near prepared to deal 
     with that influx.

[[Page S1996]]

       We are nowhere near prepared to deal with that influx.

  Again, a third Democratic Senator on the subject of ending title 42.
  Mr. President, under the Biden administration, we have had 12 
straight months of border encounters in excess of over 150,000. In 
February, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 164,973 
individuals attempting to cross our southern border illegally--the 
highest February number in more than 20 years. And, of course, those 
numbers only reflect individuals the Border Patrol has succeeded in 
apprehending. There is no question that many other illegal immigrants 
have crossed the border in the past year without being apprehended and 
have disappeared into the United States. The President is largely 
responsible for this situation thanks to the series of actions he has 
taken to weaken border security and immigration enforcement since his 
administration began.
  Mr. President, illegal immigration is a very serious problem for 
several reasons. First of all, it is dangerous for any country not to 
know who is entering the country, who is crossing its borders. Illegal 
border crossings are not confined to individuals wanting to build a 
better life for themselves. Weak borders are an invitation to human 
traffickers, drug smugglers, gangs, and even terrorists.
  We currently have a very serious fentanyl problem in this country. In 
fact, fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death for U.S. adults 
between the ages of 18 and 45. And where is this fentanyl coming from? 
It is being trafficked across our southern border. In fact, Mexico has 
replaced China as the dominant source of fentanyl in the United States. 
There is no question that the worse the situation at the border gets, 
the easier it is for drug smugglers to evade detection and capture.
  Our Border Patrol officers do heroic work, but they are stretched 
incredibly thin and have been for the past year. It is simply common 
sense to acknowledge that the greater the flood of illegal immigration 
they have to contend with, the easier it is going to be for bad actors 
to get across the border.
  So there are real security concerns that illegal immigration 
represents. There are also serious humanitarian concerns. The journey 
to our southern border for those attempting to cross illegally is 
frequently fraught with danger, and there is nothing compassionate 
about encouraging individuals to undertake that journey, to run the 
risk of exploitation and disease and exposure.
  Finally, encouraging or tacitly endorsing illegal immigration shows a 
real disregard for the rule of law. I am a strong supporter of legal 
immigration. I am one generation removed from immigrants in this 
country, and I hope this country will always serve as a refuge for 
individuals seeking a new life for peace and for freedom. But 
immigration laws are not exceptions to the principle that the law must 
be respected.
  We can and should make changes to immigration laws as needed to 
address problems or to expand opportunities, but immigration must 
proceed according to the law. To suggest otherwise is to cultivate 
contempt for the rule of law, not to mention how unfair it is to those 
who have done what is required to come here legally.
  As President, President Biden has a particular responsibility to care 
for the country's security. When it comes to the border, at least, he 
is failing in that responsibility, and he is betraying the duty he owes 
to the American people, who should be able to count on their President 
to care about security concerns, including border security.
  We are less than 2 months away from the end of title 42 restrictions 
and the border surge that we expect to follow. I hope that the 
President will use that time to get serious about developing a plan to 
secure our southern border because he owes the American people nothing 
less.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.