(TheRedWire.com) – On Sunday, President Biden was asked to answer questions about the situation at the Southern border following the end of Title 42. Title 42 was a pandemic health policy that allowed officials to expel immigrants without having to go through the asylum process. The policy ended on Thursday.
Biden, who was on a Mother’s Day bike ride in Delaware, responded to reporters that the situation in the Southern border was far better than originally anticipated. He added that currently he has no plans to visit the border and believes that his appearance there would only “be disruptive.”
Biden’s comments came shortly after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed that there has been a 50 percent decrease in the number of encounters since Thursday according to border patrol agents.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” program, Mayorkas pointed out that in the two days following the expiration of Title 42, there has been a decrease in border crossings. As he pointed out on Friday there were 6,300 border encounters, while on Saturday there were 4,200. However, despite these initial positive numbers, Mayorkas has pointed out that it is still too soon after the expiration to make a full assessment.
Mayorkas has stated that the most likely reason for this decrease is that following the expiration of Title 42, the previous criminal penalties for those who enter the country illegally have started to apply again. Under Title 42, expulsion was faster and easier but there were no penalties for those who tried to enter the country.
On Sunday, Biden stated that he was hoping that there would continue to be a decrease in the number of crossings, but added that additional work from Congress was necessary.
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