Border Crossings to Explode if Title 42 Ends, Texas Democrat Warns

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) speaks to reporters in Washington on June 27, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Title 42 is the only thing keeping a tsunami of illegal border crossings at bay in the United States, according to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).

It’s estimated that a record-breaking 8,000 illegal immigrants are coming across the southern border per day, the highest in history. That number could more than quadruple in a week if more resources aren’t provided for border security and Title 42 ends.

“If Title 42 goes away, and if the administration does not have a policy in place, then yes,” Cuellar told The Epoch Times, “I’ve been told there are now estimates of over 50,000 people in Mexico waiting to come across and that number can increase.”

Venezuelan nationals walk along the border fence to a waiting Border Patrol van after illegally crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico, in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 21, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Cuellar’s district covers about 200 miles of the U.S.–Mexico border, including the city of Laredo. The unprecedented surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border has created not only a crisis on Mexico’s side but also on America’s side, as border cities like Laredo struggle to provide resources to them.

“The city and the non-profits are not really equipped to handle large numbers of people as we see more and more are being released onto the streets.” Cuellar said, “We don’t want catch and release and this is what I’ve always said to the administration, it’s okay to listen to the immigration activists but you have to listen to the men and women in green serving on the border and the border communities.”

Title 42

The fate of a Trump-era public health order known as Title 42, meant to rapidly expel millions of illegal immigrants at the border, is being weighed in the Supreme Court. Many Republicans have argued that if Title 42 were to lapse, the surge of illegal immigrants into the country would become catastrophic, and Cuellar agrees.

“If the administration does not have another policy in place then those numbers will certainly increase,” he said.

Title 42 was used by the Centers for Disease Control during the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to prevent illegal immigrants from attempting to enter the United States—without the chance to seek asylum.

Initially, the Biden administration continued to rely on Title 42 to prevent a flood of illegal immigration into the country despite an outcry from Democrats, but has now encouraged the Supreme Court to let it end.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration is surging assistance to the border and will continue to do so, but that “the removal of Title 42 does not mean the border is open.”

Cuellar disagrees: “The border is open. What the administration is doing is trying to play Whac-a-Mole by moving resources from one area to another.”

A Divided Congress

In 2023, the 118th Congress will be evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, making many important legislative issues like border security difficult to pass. Though Cuellar, an outspoken moderate Democrat with many Republican friends in Congress, is optimistic there can be a compromise on the issue.

“Look, I’ve seen both majorities [in Congress], I’m not going to agree with the Republicans 100 percent or Democrats but on points we can agree on, we can certainly work together on like border security,” he said.

Cuellar has even called on Biden to “visit the border” to see the humanitarian crisis firsthand and what American communities there are going through. It’s an invitation the president has so far declined to take Cuellar up on.

“I think if you’re the leader, people need to see you on the front line. Keep in mind that when the Ukrainian refugees were going into Poland, he went into Poland,” said Cuellar. “So if he can do that for the Ukrainians in Poland he can do this in our own country.”