After the Biden administration announced it will end the Title 42 policy that helps border officials regulate the inflow of unprecedented levels of illegal immigration — a move expected to bring an even larger wave of migrants to the U.S. southern border — Republicans accused the president of “destroying” the country with a “full scale invasion,” warning of an impending “migration crisis” the likes of which has never been seen before, with some calling for impeachment.
Title 42, a public health provision that serves as an essential tool in combating the spread of COVID-19 and controlling the influx of migrants at our southern border, was invoked by the Trump administration at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing for the expedited removal of those illegally crossing U.S. borders.
GOP lawmakers warned of grave consequences in response to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recent announcement that President Joe Biden will end the Title 42 coronavirus protection protocol that allows federal immigration officials to quickly return border crossers and illegal aliens to their native countries..
“Our southern border is already overwhelmed with illegal migrants and dangerous drugs,” wrote Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). “Yet, the Biden Administration is proposing an end to Title 42, which will only make this unprecedented crisis even worse.”
“There is no longer any other conclusion: The chaos is intentional,” he added.
“Joe Biden’s reckless border policies have allowed 2+ million foreigners to enter our country illegally via the southern border,” wrote Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Revoking Title 42 will supercharge the skyrocketing flow of illegal aliens, increasing drug, human and sex trafficking.”
“This is a dereliction of duty!” he added.
“Border Patrol agents feel overwhelmed and abandoned,” wrote House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
“They made one thing clear: President Biden and Vice President Harris have neglected their most basic responsibilities of protecting our country’s sovereignty,” he added.
“What’s happening at the border is actually pretty simple: Well-financed, operationally sophisticated drug cartels—with the help of the CCP—are exploiting our immigration policies & migrants’ desperation to make billions of dollars from drug & human trafficking,” wrote Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN).
“It has to end,” he added.
“By ending Title 42, border patrol agents know they’re being disarmed. Now they have nothing to combat the surge,” Hagerty wrote in another tweet. “They’re already overwhelmed, & now they’re going to get completely crushed.”
“The crisis at the border will become a disaster of epic proportions,” he added.
“The hypocrisy coming out of the Biden Administration just doesn’t end,” wrote Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
“We’ve had unprecedented numbers of illegal immigrants pouring across the southern border,” she wrote in another tweet. “Biden has done nothing.”
“The chaos at the southern border was entirely preventable,” wrote Sen. Ted. Cruz (R-Texas). “The Biden administration terminating Title 42 policy will make the catastrophe worse.”
“Ending Title 42 will worsen the already catastrophic invasion at our Southern Border,” wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
“Joe Biden and his Far Left policies are destroying our country,” she added.
“Based on what I am being told by officials in South & Central America expect Biden’s decision to end Title 42 to lead to the biggest migration crisis in U.S. history,” warned Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R).
“It’s not just what Title 42 technically does, it’s what migrants think getting rid of it means,” he added.
“If Title 42 ends, illegal immigrants will account for most of America’s population growth next year,” wrote Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
“A major win for Joe Biden, and a major loss for America,” he added.
“Crime is totally out of control. Drugs are pouring over our southern border and Americans are DYING because of it,” wrote Congressman Ronny Jackson (R-TX).
“Biden is DESTROYING the country!” he added.
“Title 42 has been invoked roughly 1.7 million times by the Biden Admin,” wrote Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY).
“What is Biden planning to do with the next group of 1.7 million migrants once he ends Title 42? “ she asked. “We need a plan to secure the border IMMEDIATELY!”
“President Biden’s lack of a comprehensive plan to secure the border is a complete dereliction of duty,” wrote Rep. Tenney in another tweet. “Biden should be impeached for failing to protect the American people.”
“Joe Biden has surrendered our border to criminals and traffickers and welcomed an army of invaders to cross the southern border,” wrote Carla Sands, former Trump administration ambassador to Denmark who is vying for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat.
“Every day the southern border is left unsecured is an impeachable offense,” she added.
“If this Administration ends Title 42 — America will see a mass migration crisis like we’ve never seen before,” wrote Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX).
“The catastrophe at our southern border is one of the worst migration crises America has ever seen,” Fallon wrote in another tweet. “What does this Administration think ending Title 42 will do to it?”
“It the responsibility and duty of the federal government to protect every state of the union from invasion,” wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). “Our Constitution demands & requires a secure border.”
She also called on Congress to “impeach Joe Biden,” adding that by “failing to do so, are we post-constitution and our laws no longer matter?”
“Despite warnings from both Republicans and Democrats about a surge in border crossings if Title 42 is lifted, the Biden administration announced it is eliminating one of the last remaining tools in our toolbox to stem the tide of illegal immigration,” wrote Republican Todd Young, the senior senator for Indiana.
“Lifting the Title 42 order, which has been an important backstop over the last two years, ties the hands of our hard-working border patrol agents and makes their jobs even more difficult,” he added.
“Over TWO million illegal immigrants have crossed into our nation since President Biden took office,” wrote Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ). “Despite this, the Biden Administration is moving to end Title 42 on May 23.”
“Are you kidding me??” she asked.
“This is full scale invasion” wrote Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ). “This is 540,000 in one month.”
“Putin sent 150,000 troops into Ukraine and we are ready to set fire to the world,” he added. “Eliminating Title 42 will only add fuel to the fire. Madness.”
“The Biden regime wants Title 42 gone to increase the flow of illegal aliens crossing our southern border,” wrote Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
“Example 57,563 of Biden’s Destroy America First approach,” she added.
“We cannot overstate the devastation that will come from the end to Title 42,” wrote Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL). “It’s exactly what immigrants from other countries have been waiting to hear.”
“It’s a tacit endorsement of Biden’s open border policies,” she added. “It’s only going to get worse. This is the #BidenBorderCrisis.”
“Biden’s Title 42 decision in one word: catastrophe,” wrote Colorado Republican Representative Ken Buck.
“@GOPLeader is completely right,” wrote Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.
“By ending Title 42, President Biden is actively working to make the crisis at our southern border worse,” he added.
The remarks come as America faces record-high levels of illegal immigration, with more than 209,000 migrants apprehended after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. in March, the highest number of migrant apprehensions for one month since March 2000 — the last year of the Clinton administration.
It also breaks the Biden-era record of 200,658 set in July 2021.
Last year, President Biden set new records for illegal immigration by enticing more than two million border crossers and illegal aliens to take the often deadly journey through Mexico to the nation’s southern border in the hopes of being released into the U.S.
Earlier this year, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was reported to have admitted in private that illegal immigration in President Biden’s first year in office is “worse now than … ever” in American history.
Last week, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) accused President Biden of significantly damaging national security by deliberately creating a border crisis to expand the Democrat voter bloc, calling for an investigation into the president over his actions.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.