CDC Extends Trump-Era Public Health Order Allowing Border Officials To Expel Most Migrants

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the Trump-era public health order allowing border officials to expel most migrants back to Mexico or Canada, the agency announced Monday.

The regulation, known as Title 42, temporarily prohibits noncitizens from entering the U.S. through Canada or Mexico regardless of their port of origin in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 into the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Unaccompanied migrants minors were exempt from the order.

“CDC is continuing to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at the U.S. borders and ports of entry, looking at the risks of transmission and spread of COVID-19 in congregate settings, such as U.S. Customs and Border Patrol stations, as well as the threat from emerging variants and the availability of testing, vaccination, and other mitigation measures,” the agency said in a statement.

The restrictions will be re-evaluated every 60 days as the pandemic progresses and potential risks change, according to the CDC.

The public health order, Title 42, was implemented in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been used to rapidly expel more than 750,000 migrants since October 2020, according to CBP. Preliminary data suggests border officials encountered around 210,000 migrants at the southern border in July, up from nearly 190,000 in June, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

“The large number of expulsions during the pandemic has contributed to a larger-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts, which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border,” CBP said in a statement.

Mexico reportedly stopped accepting migrant families from other countries transported hundreds of miles by U.S. officials to be expelled to Mexico under Title 42, My RGV reported Saturday.