- The Biden administration is preparing for a potential influx of migrants from Mexico at the Southern border.
- Axios reported on Thursday that a potential influx could top 170,000 people.
- A Trump-era COVID-19 policy, which is being rolled back, had initially halted the entry of migrants seeking asylum.
The Biden administration is preparing for a potential flood of migrants from Mexico once the Trump-era COVID-19 protocols at the southern border come to an end.
According to an Axios report on Thursday, Biden officials are preparing for an influx of migrants at the Mexico border that could top 170,000 people if a policy, known as Title 42, is nixed.
Title 42, which began under Trump in May 2020, has allowed the US government to cite public health concerns due to the pandemic as a rationale to deny entry to migrants seeking asylum. Progressives have criticized the policy, which has been challenged in federal court.
Earlier in March, a federal appeals court in Washington, DC ruled that the US could continue to apply the policy, but with limited use.
On Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention terminated Title 42 "with respect to unaccompanied noncitizen children." CNN, however, reported that the Biden administration had partially pulled back the order.
According to figures from US Customs and Border Protection, there were nearly 155,000 encounters with migrants along the US-Mexico border. That figure increased in February to nearly 165,000.
According to the latest CDC data, the US is averaging just over 30,000 daily new COVID-19 cases, down from a peak of over 800,000 in mid-January.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.