Biden administration to withdraw Title 42 border policy soon

Title 42, the Trump-era pandemic border policy issued by the public health authority is going to end as the Biden administration officially plans to terminate its use. Title 42 has been used since 2020 to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per Title 42 Border Policy, the government can immediately repel people who are trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and those who seek asylum at a border checkpoint. As per the official report, the policy has prevented more than 1.7 million immigrants from attempting to cross the border since the time the Trump administration implied it in March 2020. These people have often been turned away and sent back to Mexico.

The administration of Joe Biden will lift the policy on May 23. With the end of Title 42, the government will once again detain migrants before deporting them or releasing them to asylum.


As per the order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they plan to take this step as there is no further threat of spreading COVID-19 by migrants in the migration-detention facilities.

However, Border officials have stated their concerns that without any strict turnback policy, the withdrawal of Title 42 would lead the migration situation to the dangerous overcrowding in border facilities. They would be overwhelmed with the release of people in the country who would be usually jailed or deported.

The delayed implementation of the order by the CDC will allow the Department of Homeland Security adequate time to prepare for the anticipated overcrowding situation at the border this Spring.

The final decision of the order is pending as the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is yet to finalize the matter as soon as Wednesday. Then, the CDC will further decide about the withdrawal of Title 42.

On Title 42, President Joe Biden said, “We’ll have a decision on that soon.”