Mayorkas says U.S. is preparing for “significant challenges” along the border, asking countries to accept deportees

Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas acknowledged Friday that expected end of Title 42 Border evictions in May could pose “significant challenges” for the U.S. government, but he stressed that his department is ready to implement the change and deal with a likely increase in migrant arrivals.

In an interview with CBS News on Friday, Mayorkas said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has set up migrant processing facilities, deployed additional medical personnel and other personnel on the southern border, and expanded transportation capabilities. migrants as part of a month-long plan.

Mayorkas, who met with officials in Panama this week, said the Biden administration is also seeking help from Western Hemisphere countries to reduce current high levels of migration at the U.S. border, including all to convince them to accept the return of asylum. search engines and migrants rejected by the US

“The claim that we have no plans is a statement that is not based on facts,” Mayorkas said. “We have been planning for months to address the increase in migration; the ones we have already experienced and the ones we could experience at the end of Title 42.”

Under Title 42, a pandemic-era rule set by the Trump administration in March 2020, the U.S. has rejected hundreds of thousands of migrants for public health reasons.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision to end Title 42 on May 23 has angered Republican lawmakers and a growing number of more moderate Democrats who do not believe Mayorkas and his department are ready to fight. to an even stronger increase in migration. Texas and other Republican-led states are asking federal courts to block the termination of the policy.

Arrests of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border rose to 221,000 in March, a Maximum 22 years. Mayorkas noted that many arrests represent repeated crossovers by the same individuals, a phenomenon that DHS said will work to reduce it through criminal prosecution.

“Those individuals who try repeatedly, who seek to defy the law, are subject to criminal prosecution under the right circumstances,” Mayorkas said. “And we’re working with the Department of Justice to do that.”

Over the past two years, Title 42 has allowed U.S. border guards to deport migrants more than 1.8 million times without examining them for asylum. Approximately 75% of these expulsions have taken place under President Biden. However, his administration has also reported about 2.5 million arrests of migrants in 14 months, according to DHS data.

The CDC determined earlier this month that Title 42 was no longer needed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Many public health experts and even CDC officials had a long time questions validity for that reason.

Upon completion of Title 42, Mayorkas said migrants who do not meet U.S. asylum requirements will be deported under the usual immigration procedures. But U.S. officials have struggled to return large numbers of migrants to countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela because of strained relations with governments there.

Concerns about these deportation limits have intensified recently more migrants arrive on the U.S. border from countries beyond Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where the U.S. conducts regular deportations. In March, 32,000 Cubans and 16,000 Nicaraguans entered U.S. border custody, both records.

Mayorkas said one of the goals of his trip to Panama was to emphasize the collective responsibility of countries to manage migratory flows that affect most of the region, including the need to facilitate the “safe return” of migrants to Panama. their countries of origin.

“We are talking about the responsibility of managing borders across the region in a humane manner that follows the law, which means that those who meet the requirements for aid in a particular country receive this relief and those who are not repatriates, “he said.

Mayorkas said one of the elements of separate talks with Cuban officials this week was to make sure the island nation accepted the deportations of its citizens as part of an Obama-era deal that also pledged the U.S. to facilitate the legal migration of Cubans with their families. members in the US

Dealing with other countries, however, will be more difficult, Mayorkas said. In such cases, he said the US would involve other countries with warmer ties with the US to “participate in the solution”.

“It’s quite difficult to deal with a country like Venezuela, where diplomatic relations, if they exist, can be strained. So we have to be practical here to address the realities,” Mayorkas said.

In addition to collaborating in deportations, Mayorkas said other pillars of the administration’s regional migration efforts include facilitating the integration of asylum seekers who are allowed to live in new countries. expand legal avenues for those who want to emigrate and help nations retain their residents invest in troubled communities.

The regional focus, Mayorkas said, is necessary because the U.S. is not the only country receiving migrants, citing large displaced populations of Venezuelans in Colombia and Nicaraguans in Costa Rica. He said the ultimate goal is to prevent people from attempting “dangerous” journeys that can sometimes be fatal.

“I visited the Dariénan extraordinarily treacherous terrain, and he knew first-hand the dire consequences of that endeavor, “Mayorkas said, referring to the roadless jungle region that connects Panama and Colombia through which many migrants travel on their way. to the United States.

Republicans have harshly criticized the administration’s strategy on migration, blaming it for the record number of arrivals at the border last year.

Republicans have said unprecedented migratory flows have been fueled by the Biden administration’s investment in some restrictive Trump-era border policies, its most comprehensive rhetoric toward migrants, and the release of hundreds of thousands. of migrants and asylum seekers during the last year.

Mayorkas is expected to face such criticism directly when he appears before the House Judiciary Committee next week.

“The American people deserve answers and responsibility for the illegality of the Biden administration along the southwestern border,” said Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. dit earlier this week when he announced Mayorkas’ appearance before the panel on April 28th.

In an interview Friday, Mayorkas said members of Congress can offer a permanent solution to the challenges of the U.S.-Mexico border. When asked if he would ask Congress for more funding or legal authority to address changes to Title 42, Mayorkas said legislative reform is needed.

“We are operating within the limits of a system that is completely broken and the legislation has long had to be resolved,” he added.

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• Alejandro Mayorkas