Katko: Title 42 is Critical to Managing the Biden Border Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, issued the following statement on the federal court’s ruling that the Biden administration cannot terminate Title 42 on May 23.

“The federal court’s ruling to block the Biden administration’s termination of Title 42 is a win for our homeland security, Border Patrol agents, and the safety of Americans. When I was at the border last month, every frontline Border Patrol agent we spoke to said that without Title 42 authority to immediately expel migrants, they would lose operational control. If there are no consequences for breaking the law and entering the country illegally, then a vicious cycle that undermines our nation’s law and order has been created.

“Under President Biden, cartels have built a stronghold along the southern border, using children as pawns to distract Border Patrol agents as billions of dollars’ worth of illicit drugs are smuggled across the border and into American communities. Furthermore, CBP has seized enough fentanyl in the country to kill every American seven times. Bad actors, gang members, and criminals are working the system at the southwest border, including an unprecedented number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) just this year.

“Claims from the Biden administration that the termination of Title 42 would decrease the number of encounters at the border is disingenuous at best and an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of Americans. The number of reported encounters will logically decrease when you don’t have repeat border crossers due to a lack of Title 42 expulsions. Instead, virtually anyone who enters the country illegally will now immediately be released into the interior—the very definition of open borders.

“The Biden administration has been defined by the crises it creates and then fails miserably to address. And the Biden border crisis tops that list. When the southwest border is lawless, it’s the fabric of all our communities that suffers. Homeland Republicans will continue to conduct tireless oversight to fight for the resources our frontline border law enforcement need and protect U.S. communities feeling the damaging impacts of this crisis.”

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