Biden administration releases new border plan as Title 42 nears end

On Tuesday, officials in the Biden administration set out their border and immigration enforcement plan as the pandemic-related border security exception looks like it will come to an end.

That order, which was known as Title 42, was a Trump-era policy and now is set to sunset May 23 even though bipartisan efforts have been made to keep the policy in place.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has been at the center of the criticism over the policy ending, published a 20-page memo on Tuesday detailing how the administration plans on preventing the change in border policy from causing extreme disarray.

The memo put forth a work plan for how U.S. immigration law will be enforced without the additional legal power to immediately expel migrants who are encountered at the border that Title 42 allowed officials.

The administration has the plan divided into six “border security pillars,” which include everything from short-term surges in border security personnel and other resources to an additional program to deter migration from Latin America.

One crucial part of the plan is the intention to up the legal consequences of border crossings that occur unauthorized, which is an element of deterrence that was decreased under Title 42.

“Core to this plan is our commitment to continue to strictly enforce our immigration laws,” Mayorkas wrote in the memo. “This includes increased use of Expedited Removal, detaining single adults when appropriate, referring for prosecution those whose conduct warrants it, and accelerating asylum adjudications that enable us to more quickly process and remove from the United States those who do not qualify for relief under our laws.”

Mayorkas is set to be questioned harshly by House Republicans this week while he plans on testifying about the administration’s border policies, specifically Title 42.