Nevada Dems urge greater border resources as Title 42 ends

WASHINGTON D.C., Virginia (KOLO) - U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, as well as Representative Susie Lee, are urging the Biden Administration to increase resources and capacity at the southern U.S. border as Title 42 comes to an end.

Title 42 was enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 by the Trump Administration as a means of limiting the number of people entering the United States during the national health emergency.

The order remained intact through the first two years of the Biden Administration but will now end with the termination of the national health emergency on May 11 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.

The three penned a letter to Biden asking his administration to increase its coordination with state and local governments and NGOs to ensure sufficient capacity is available to provide support for migrants.

“We write with strong concerns that the federal government is still insufficiently prepared for the reality that Title 42 is coming to an end,” wrote the members of Congress. “While we must absolutely work to pass comprehensive immigration reform, we are concerned about a lack of resources to secure our border as soon as Title 42 authority ends on Thursday, May 11. As we transition into a post-Title 42 reality, your Administration must take immediate steps to increase direct support for border personnel, both to safeguard our border and to ensure orderly, efficient, and humane asylee processing moving forward.”

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel at the U.S.-Mexico border need significantly more resources to help process individuals and families so that they can focus on their duties and secure the border,” they continued. “These frontline officials are being stretched thin, hampering their abilities to protect the homeland and to efficiently and humanely move people through the asylum process.”