SAN DIEGO, California — Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials are privately admitting to House Republicans that they are prematurely ending Title 42, the public health authority used to quickly remove illegal aliens from the United States.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced weeks ago that President Joe Biden’s administration would end Title 42 on May 23. The authority has allowed U.S. Border Patrol to quickly return illegal aliens to their native countries for the last two years in the name of public health.

This month, Breitbart News’ Randy Clark exclusively reported that Border Patrol had started phasing out Title 42 by exempting single adult border crossers from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Colombia — a massive portion of the border crossing population.

In closed-door meetings with Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), and Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), top-level Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stationed along the southern border in San Diego revealed that they had started exempting thousands of border crossers from Title 42 — nearly a month before Biden claimed to be ending the authority.

“Title 42 exemptions start today,” a source close to Breitbart News said on April 21. “More exemptions are coming later and so on. Most are getting released on Notices to Appear (NTAs).”

Those NTAs allow border crossers to swiftly be released into American communities with the promise that they will show up to a later court date for their asylum or immigration hearing.

Another source told Breitbart News that top-level DHS officials are aware that few border crossers end up attending their scheduled court dates.

Those who are exempt from Title 42 include those deemed “vulnerable populations” such as elderly border crossers and those who are mentally ill. The goal, sources said, is to relieve the number of border crossers piling up along the border and shift toward an expanded Catch and Release plan that quickly gets border crossers out of holding facilities and into American communities.

“The number of people coming across is out of control,” a source told Breitbart News. For example, in the Imperial Beach, California portion of the border, officials said there are about 3,500 illegal aliens every month who successfully cross into the U.S. undetected by Border Patrol.

Illegal aliens caught crossing the US-Mexico border are loaded into a transport van by US Border Patrol agents in Sunland Park, New Mexico on July 22, 2021. (PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden’s plan to end Title 42 was thrown into limbo this week when Judge Robert R. Summerhays granted a temporary restraining order that is likely to prevent the president from ending Title 42 while the case makes its way through federal court.

Without Title 42, Biden officials admit that up to half a million border crossers and illegal aliens — the equivalent of the resident population of Atlanta, Georgia — could arrive at the border every month.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) told Breitbart News that he would expect 30,000 border crossers and illegal aliens every day at the border without Title 42. In Tijuana, Mexico, alone, Breitbart News exclusively reported that up to 6,000 foreign nationals are waiting to rush the border when Title 42 is ended.

The Biden administration’s plan for ending Title 42, which Breitbart News reported and published, details “broadscale release mechanisms” that transform the border into a mere checkpoint for foreign nationals arriving every day.

Under the plan, Biden seeks to cut deportations for border crossers and illegal aliens by using mechanisms like parole, Notices to Appear (NTAs), and Alternatives to Detention (ATD) programs — all of which ensure the mass release of foreign nationals into the U.S. interior.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.