On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Jose Diaz-Balart Reports,” Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) stated that the Biden administration will end its expansion of Title 42 when the courts let them do so and the expansion was only undertaken because of the courts.
Host Jose Diaz-Balart asked, “The Biden administration is touting a Title 42 policy that kind of changed the numbers as far as Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. They say that about 97% has been a cutback of the people from those countries being interdicted at the border. You were at the border just last week to meet with Customs and Border Protection and local officials. What did you take away from that visit?”
Ruiz answered, “Well, first of all, the men and women who serve on our border to make sure that there’s an orderly, professional, humane processing of goods and people do incredible work day in and day out. So, I applaud them first and foremost. But let’s be clear, Jose, that the Biden administration moved to end Title 42. They are going to end Title 42. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and so many have urged the Biden administration to end Title 42 and they have ended Title 42. However, the Supreme Court and the court system have forced them to continue to implement Title 42. Unfortunately, that’s the law of the land. They’re building on other legal pathways for asylum seekers to come into the United States in order to protect them from the predatory coyotes, cartels, and those who want to harm women, children, LGBTQ individuals who are seeking asylum into our country through this new process.”
Diaz-Balart then asked, “But, Congressman, are they ending Title 42 by expanding Title 42 until the courts decide whether they can end it?”
Ruiz responded, “Title 42 is unfortunately the law of the land as determined by the courts. As soon as the courts rule that the Biden administration can indeed terminate Title 42, I have confidence that the Biden administration will end Title 42. They are not fans of Title 42 as I am not a fan of Title 42. So, because those countries refuse to accept the individuals from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua into those countries, in order to implement the current Title 42, they had to create permits within the country of Mexico for them to implement the law of the land. And so that is where we are. The Biden administration is between a rock and a hard place.”
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