Early Tuesday morning in the Capitol, Mayorkas walked into the lion’s den, taking a meeting with House GOP members of the “border security caucus” – a group of members particularly fired up over the announcement last week that the White House would lift Trump-era covid restrictions at the border, known as Title 42.

Republicans said they gave him an earful.

“It was a rough crowd, and you got to give him a lot of credit for picking the roughest crowd, going in, and listening to them,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican who attended the private briefing, where Mayorkas appeared voluntarily. “Nothing was really resolved, other than he made a promise to give a number of follow-up pieces of information.”

Added Rep. Brian Babin of Texas, the co-chairman of the caucus: “We appreciated his courage to come in, knowing that we were opposed to him 100%. But we were not satisfied with the answers he gave us.”

When asked if impeachment proceedings could be launched against Mayorkas in a GOP majority, Babin replied, “Definitely on the table.”

As the thorny politics of immigration have caused a rift within the Democratic Party, with a number of the party’s most vulnerable members revolting against the Title 42 move, Republicans see the matter as a rallying cry that will be central to their push to take back the House and the Senate in the fall.

The Title 42 move has upended efforts to pass a $10 billion Covid-19 relief bill, forced the Biden administration to quietly attempt to calm nerves on Capitol Hill and could lead to a series of tough questions for Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Wednesday when he goes before the House Budget Committee. Republicans say they’re not done yet, planning theatrics this week to consume the House floor and try to force votes on the issue – all an attempt to put the squeeze on vulnerable Democrats.

While some leading Democrats say the policy must be lifted, they are uncertain about the political price they may pay for it.

“It’s the right thing to do, but I don’t know if it will be a political problem or not,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday.

The decision to end Title 42 – which allowed migrants to be turned away at the border instead of processed under normal immigration rules during the global pandemic – is already causing problems on the legislative front, potentially scuttling a push to pass $10 billion in long-sought aid to deal with the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Republicans blocked an effort to advance the Covid relief plan as they demanded votes on amendments – namely one to target the Title 42 policy. But unlike many vulnerable Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has backed the White House’s move on Title 42, saying the current policy “wreaked havoc on our asylum system.” And the New York Democrat is rejecting calls for a vote on an amendment over the issue, a fight that could stall the package for vaccines and therapeutics for weeks.

“The bottom line is this is a bipartisan agreement that does a whole lot of important good for the American people: vaccines, testing, therapeutics,” Schumer said. “It should not be held hostage for an extraneous issue.”

Democrats look to avoid tough vote
In a private lunch on Tuesday, one Senate Democrat told CNN that the consensus among Democrats was to try and avoid holding a vote on the measure at all. Such an amendment would divide Democrats – and could potentially pass the Senate – and threaten the White House’s immigration policies while embarrassing the President.

Democrats in competitive reelection battles are now racing to distance themselves from President Joe Biden’s decision-making and bracing for the possibility of a surge of migrants at the border, even as many acknowledge that the pandemic-era rule can’t remain in perpetuity as a way to control the surge at the Southern border.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat who is close to the White House but who also faces voters this year, made clear his displeasure with the administration’s move.

“I think this is the wrong time,” Warnock told CNN. “And I haven’t seen a plan.”

Several other Democrats in tough reelection battles echoed that sentiment.

“There are options,” Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat up for reelection in the fall, said when asked if he’d back an amendment on the issue.

“It’s obvious that there’s not a plan in place,” Kelly said. “This is a national security issue for the country, it’s a public health issue as well – not only for people in communities on the southern border, but for migrants. We need an orderly process.”

The administration says it does have a plan to deal with the expected surge.

Chris Magnus, commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, said once the policy ends May 23, they have taken a number of steps to prepare for an influx of migrants and beef up security at the border.

“We are doing everything we can to prepare for this increase, ensure we continue to process people humanely, and impose consequences on those who break the law,” Magnus said in a statement. “At the same time, we will continue to use all available resources to secure our borders. This includes the increased use of technology, on-ground monitoring, use of drones and additional support personnel to supplement (Border Patrol) agents and free them up from processing duties whenever possible.”

But both the House and Senate Democratic chairmen of the homeland security committees are not yet sold on the administration’s plan – even after getting briefed regularly by Mayorkas.

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, but also is in charge of the Senate Democratic campaign committee, said Tuesday, “It’s important that the administration has a plan to deal with what will happen as a result of lifting” the policy even as he said he’s “confident” it ultimately will.

But asked if he supports lifting Title 42, Peters said: “I want to see the plan, but it’s still a work in progress.”

Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, met Tuesday morning with Mayorkas to discuss the issue and warned that he still wanted to see a more robust plan for how the Homeland Security Department plans to combat a potential increase in border crossings this summer.

“Obviously, the administration has to come with policies that would convince the public that this issue will be managed. Not controlled, but managed,” Thompson said. “The policies have to be clear. … I am being told those policies are being worked on as we speak.”

Asked if he was convinced that the administration’s policies will be able to combat a surge, he said, “Well, I will wait until I see the policy.”

Conservative Democrats, too, are pushing back.

“Security of the border is everything,” said West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a leading moderate Democrat. “It’s everything. And we have to get our head straight about this and get secured borders.”

GOP plots midterm plans
House GOP leaders are eager to keep Title 42 in the spotlight, with a strategy that is largely centered around messaging.

The GOP leadership has encouraged Republicans to participate in a so-called conga line on Wednesday, according to GOP sources, in which members will line up on the House floor and repeatedly ask for unanimous consent to consider a bill from Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell of New Mexico that would keep the Trump-era policy in place.

And last week, sources said Republican leaders began officially whipping support for a “discharge petition” that would force a floor vote on that same bill if 218 lawmakers sign on to the effort. So far, 211 members have signed the petition: every single House Republican besides Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

Conservative Rep. Chip Roy of Texas filed the petition last year, but has been steadily building support for it ever since; the effort picked up new steam in the wake of Biden’s Title 42 announcement.

“What are they afraid of? Just put it on the floor,” Roy said. “If you think it’s bad policy, then put it up.”

When asked if he would support the discharge petition, Rep. Dean Phillips, a Minnesota Democrat in a tough reelection race, said he would have to look at it. But Phillips also made clear he has concerns with Biden’s Title 42 decision, and said he has begun to express some of those worries to the White House.

“I’ve been to the southern border twice. It appalled me, as it should appall any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, and any American,” he said. “And I do concur that there should be a thoughtful, actionable plan in place before rescinding it. Plain and simple.”

“I would be shocked and dismayed if they don’t,” Phillips added. “Have I seen it? No.”

On Monday evening, the House Republican conference held a briefing with border patrol agents to hear how the end of Title 42 will impact their operations, then followed it up with a news conference in the Capitol afterward.

“You know, President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, said they would do something about this and they have not,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said. “They’ve only opened it up worse.”

Republicans have already taken dozens of trips to the southern border since last year, and there are more in the works in the near future: McCarthy said he will lead another border trip at the end of this month.

Republicans are confident that hammering Democrats over the border will not only energize their base, but also resonate with moderate and independent voters – especially since they have linked border security to the fentanyl crisis that has impacted communities all around the country.

“It’s far more than just aliens coming across, it’s far more than just the drugs coming across. This is a national security issue that’s gonna further get worse as time goes on this summer,” said Rep. John Katko of New York, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee.

One reason the GOP feels like it has the political upper hand: the National Republican Congressional Committee has shown members internal polling that shows the border is a salient issue in battleground districts, according to GOP sources.

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the head of the House GOP’s campaign arm, told CNN: “Democrats will pay a political price for their incompetence.”

CNN’s Ted Barrett and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/05/politics/title-42-gop-election-strategy/index.html

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More than 50 House Republicans Wednesday are pressing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over the possibility it may use Veterans Affairs (VA) medical personnel to stem an expected migrant border surge.

The letter comes a little over a month before the May 23 end date for the Title 42 policy — a Trump-era public health order that allows for the expulsion of most migrants entering the U.S. because of COVID-19.

After President Biden announced earlier this month he would end the order, fears grew over a potential surge of migrants to the southern border as a result. Fox News reported shortly before Biden’s announcement that CBP was considering the idea to have VA personnel assist in taking care of the migrants.

“On March 29, 2022, a CBP report indicated a surge of border crossings was imminent due to the rescinding of this authority. The report presents a dire situation that may result in as many as 18,000 possible encounters per day. If this number proves accurate, this could result in over 540,000 encounters in a single month,” the GOP letter, led by Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., said. “Currently, CBP does not have the facilities or manpower to handle the anticipated massive surge.”

The letter, addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, stated that any consideration of moving VA medical personnel to the border would be “deeply troubling.”

“Moving VA medical staff away from our veteran’s healthcare needs to examine illegal immigrants is a recipe for disaster,” the letter said. “Wait times for a veteran to see their doctor can average 22 days and reach as high as 42 days. This is unacceptable mismanagement of federal government resources by the Biden administration.”

MODERATE DEMOCRATS URGE BIDEN NOT TO REPEAL TITLE 42

Hice was joined by 53 other House Republicans on the letter, including GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.

According to a CBP source who’s worked in law enforcement for over 20 years and is familiar with the process, using personnel from the VA to assist in medical care and COVID-19 shots for migrants is not being ruled out yet.

“It does not seem to be off the table with a whole of government response” to handle the surge at the border, the source said. The source added that such an arrangement would likely be part of a “voluntary force” asking federal agencies to help respond to the surge.

A CBP spokesperson Wednesday told Fox News that it did not have any evidence such conversations were taking place but could not definitively rule it out.

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A “whole of government response” could mirror a very broad strategy outlined in a March 30 press release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees CBP. Titled, “Preparations for a Potential Increase in Migration,” DHS said in the release it would “Ready to surge personnel and resources to the Southwest Border.”

“DHS has moved officers, agents, and DHS Volunteer Force personnel to rapidly decompress points along the border and more efficiently process migrants,” DHS said in the press release.

It notably did not mention the VA, which is not part of DHS. The press release also said it would implement “COVID mitigation measures” including handing out PPE. But it again did not mention the possibility of VA personnel assisting in that.

“Biden’s failed open border policies are no excuse to funnel resources away from our veterans. Our men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our liberties and our country’s sovereignty deserve the best resources for their health care needs,” Hice said in a statement separate from the GOP letter. “The Biden Administration must provide the American people answers. Even the thought of abandoning our veterans’ care for the needs of illegal aliens is disgraceful.”

Tyler Olson covers politics for Fox News Digital. You can contact him at tyler.olson@fox.com and follow him on Twitter at @TylerOlson1791.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cbp-va-border-migrants-title-42-republicans-biden-administration

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McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The controversial Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy — which forced migrants to wait south of the border in Mexico during their immigration proceedings — could begin again “within the coming weeks,” according to a federal court brief filed this week by Justice Department officials.

The four-page document filed Monday in Amarillo, Texas, said that the government of Mexico is close to accepting migrants who are sent back from the United States under the program, formally called Migrant Protection Protocols or MPP.

DHS “is ready to reimplement MPP shortly after the Government of Mexico (GOM) makes an independent decision to accept the return of individuals that the Department seeks to enroll in the program,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton wrote.

Mexico apparently has one major sticking point, although the brief does not detail what it is.

A previous court filing on Oct. 14 listed several concerns by Mexico, including how many migrants will be returned daily, whether non-Spanish speakers will be sent back, and assurances that vulnerable individuals, like the sick, elderly or LGBTQ will not be sent back.

“Regular and high-level meetings” have been held with Mexican officials “to discuss the GOM’s concerns about the prior implementation of MPP and to work through possible solutions,” according to the court brief. They’ve “made significant progress and are close to finalizing these discussions.”

Although the Biden administration halted MPP when Joe Biden took office, the states of Texas and Missouri have sued the federal government to have the program reimplemented. In August, the Supreme Court refused to block a lower court’s injunction ordering the program be restarted.

Monday’s brief was a second supplemental notice of compliance by the defendants, but it signaled that MPP is close to being restarted.

Over 71,000 migrants were forced south of the border after the program began in 2019.

Migrant advocates say it is illegal and inhumane and puts migrants’ lives at risk by forcing them to live in dangerous northern Mexican border towns rife with killings and kidnappings.

“We think the use of MPP as a deterrent is unlawful and inhumane and denies people due process,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy council for the American Immigration Council, told Border Report on Tuesday.

Reichlin-Melnick says the Biden administration cannot guarantee that migrants living in Mexico will have access to proper legal advice in the United States.

“There are no measures that can be taken to ensure that those in MPP have the same access to counsel as those inside the United States. It is literally impossible. Therefore, any attempt by the U.S. and Mexican governments to work out an agreement where there would be supposedly access to counsel is at its heart a sham because, as the secretary has acknowledged, it’s not possible,” Melnick said.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@ReichlinMelnick
In a new court filing, @DHSgov says that it will likely be reinstating the Remain in Mexico program (the Orwellianly-named Migrant Protection Protocols) “within the coming weeks.”

They say negotiations with Mexico are down to just one final issue. What a sham and a farce.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Oct. 29 issued a 30-page memo to terminate the policy decrying that: “MPP had endemic flaws, imposed unjustifiable human costs, pulled resources and personnel away from other priority efforts, and did not address the root causes of irregular migration.”

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research organization from Syracuse University, this week reported that in October there were 18 asylum-seekers placed in MPP, according to court documents obtained by the organization.

However, TRAC researcher Austin Kocher told Border Report they have not come to any conclusive understanding on how those cases got classified into a program that ostensibly has not been restarted. “But 18 is not a fluke. Still, the number is small enough (and things are more confusing now policy-wise) that it’s hard to say exactly what’s up,” he said.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, which lists MPP entries dating back to 2019, has zero listed for placement in October.

Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.
https://www.borderreport.com/

Border Report has reached out to DHS officials for clarification on this data. This story will be updated if additional information is received.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at Ssanchez@borderreport.com.

Source: https://www.borderreport.com/hot-topics/immigration/remain-in-mexico-policy-could-restart-in-coming-weeks-doj-officials-tell-federal-court/

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A federal judge on Friday ordered the Biden administration to “enforce and implement” the Trump-era Remain-in-Mexico policy in response to a lawsuit from Texas and Missouri, which claimed that the administration’s attempt to terminate the policy was illegal and harmful.

The two Republican states had sought a preliminary injunction against the administration’s June 1 memo formally ending the policy — officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). They argued that the ending of the policy was in breach of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).

MISSOURI AG ‘OPTIMISTIC’ AHEAD OF HEARING CHALLENGING BIDEN REVERSAL OF REMAIN-IN-MEXICO’ POLICY

The ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, orders the Biden administration “to enforce and implement MPP in good faith” until it has been “lawfully rescinded” in compliance with the APA, and until the federal government has enough detention capacity to detail all migrants subject to mandatory detention.

However, it notes the injunction is narrow and also states: “Nothing in this injunction requires DHS to take any immigration or removal action nor withhold its statutory discretion towards any individual thatit would not otherwise take.”

However, the court has stayed the applicability of the opinion and order for 7 days to allow the government to appeal it.

“My office has been leading the way nationally in fighting human trafficking, and the Biden Administration’s lax border policies increase the risk for human trafficking at the border and, in turn, in Missouri,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement. “Today’s massive win was crucial – re-implementing the Migrant Protection Protocols will help secure the border and fight the scourge of human trafficking.”

“Together we sued, and just handed Biden yet another major loss!” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office tweeted.

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House Republicans on Friday asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to take a tougher approach on the US-Mexico border to “prevent the impending catastrophe” they say is coming due to President Biden’s new immigration bill and related policy changes.

Democrats on Thursday unveiled a Biden-supported bill that would offer the more than 11 million estimated illegal immigrants a path to US citizenship, which Republicans say could become a new “pull” factor.

The White House said Tuesday it also will begin an end to the “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers from Central America. About 71,000 applicants will be allowed into the US to await decisions, the White House said.

“The Biden Administration’s policies limiting immigration enforcement and weakening border security, coupled with its proposal to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, are signaling to the world that our immigration laws can be violated with little, if any, consequence,” Republicans on the House Oversight Committee wrote to Mayorkas.

“We are particularly concerned that the Biden Administration’s actions could soon lead to a health crisis at the border and surrounding communities, causing widespread COVID-19 infections and fatalities.”

The 19 Republicans, led by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), ask Mayorkas to outline “the administration’s plan to prevent the impending catastrophe on the border.”

In January, President Biden signed an executive order to halt construction on the US-Mexico border wall.AP

The GOP group contended, “The increasing number of [unaccompanied children] and family units illegally crossing the border will soon overwhelm border facilities in the middle of a global pandemic, forcing CBP officials to resort to widespread, rapid catch and release of unlawfully present individuals and families into the interior of the country.”

In his first month as president, Biden ended construction of former President Donald Trump’s US-Mexico border wall and vowed to relax a wide range of policies that sought to limit immigration, including a rule that the US cannot admit immigrants likely to require public assistance. Trump cast the restrictions as necessary protection for low-wage US workers and taxpayers, but Biden has described the policies as “inhumane.”

Biden also ended a “zero tolerance” Trump-era policy for prosecuting illegal border crossings.

Former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller, who orchestrated many of Trump’s immigration policies, said Thursday on Fox News that the new immigration bill is poorly timed given high unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You have 20 million Americans who want full-time jobs right now, but because of the pandemic they can’t find them,” Miller said.

The former senior adviser lambasted the bill as a “full-scale attack on the very idea of nationhood.”

“If you were trying to write a bill to eliminate the concept of having a nation, this is the bill you would write,” Miller added.

In December, then-President-elect Biden said he was concerned about abruptly relaxing Trump’s immigration policies because he feared that if he acted too quickly, he would trigger “2 million people on our border.”

Source: https://nypost.com/2021/02/19/republicans-say-biden-immigration-bill-will-cause-catastrophe-on-mexico-border/

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