Bill Introduced in Texas to Require Title 42 Expulsions Until All COVID-Related Mandates and Emergencies Are Lifted

FIRST ON FOX: A bill is being introduced in Texas legislature this week would keep Title 42 in place at the state level until the federal public health emergency for COVID-19, as well as related mandates and travel warnings, is lifted – as the Lone Star State struggles to deal with a historic surge in illegal migration.

The bill is being introduced by State Rep. Brian Harrison, a former Trump-era Health and Human Services (HHS) chief of staff who was in office in March 2020 when the administration implemented Title 42 – a public health order that allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Biden’s administration tried to repeal the order last year but was stopped by a federal judge after a GOP lawsuit. The Biden administration has been subject to a second lawsuit, requesting that the expulsions cease. This lawsuit argued that the order was illegal. This lawsuit is now before the Supreme Court It is likely that they will be ruled on in the latter part of this year.

Amid that uncertainty, there has been a continued surge in migration at the southern border, with more than 200,000 encounters for months, overwhelming areas like El Paso, Texas – which has declared a state of emergency. Federal officials predicted that the number and frequency of migrant encounters would rise to 14,000 daily once the health emergency is over.

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Migrants set up camp in El Paso Texas on December 13, 2022.
(Fox News/Jon Michael Raasch)

With Title 42’s status unclear, Harrison’s bill would enshrine it for Texas using the state’s police powers. It would allow non-U.S. citizens into the country through ports of entry but will require all illegal immigrants to be returned between ports. 

It would remain in effect as long as a federal public health emergency for COVID-19 is in place and as long the COVID-19 vaccine mandate is not repealed. It would also be in effect as long as it is not removed by the State Department. COVID-19 travel warning Any country where illegal immigrants are from.

“Biden is intentionally opening the southern border to human traffickers, cartels and millions of unscreened illegal aliens, while at the same time keeping Americans under a federal COVID Public Health Emergency and tyrannical vaccine mandates,” Harrison stated this in a statement. “We can’t let him have it both ways. Texas is the first impacted, the most impacted, and we must fight back using all tools available as a sovereign state.”

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This bill is the latest example of Texas taking matters into its own hands in securing the border against what Republican officials claim to be a lackluster leadership from the federal government.

Texas has built its own wall at its border, and has also been bussing migrants deeper into the interior – moves that have sparked pushback from the liberal cities to which the state has been sending them. Gov. Greg Abbott also declared an “invasion” at the southern border In November, illegal migrants were returning to the border. 

Ken Cuccinelli is a former acting deputy secretary to DHS under Trump. He has advocated for invasion declarations by states and has been a Trump supporter. faulted Abbott for not using the declaration to return migrants to Mexico itself, praised Harrison’s bill as an important additional step.

“For the past two years of the Biden administration, we’ve been asking Gov. Abbott to declare an invasion and use his war power authority to remove illegals back into Mexico and keep the cartels from having operational control of our border. That has not occurred,” Cuccinelli, who is currently at the Center for Renewing America said in a statement. “We are encouraged that the Texas State Legislature and Rep. Brian Harrison are using the powers they have to push this issue to ensure Texans and American are safe.”

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The bill shows that action taking place at the state level is similar to the renewed legislative push by Republicans in the House of Representatives. There, having taken control of the chamber, Republicans have introduced a slew of bills to crack down on the crisis at the southern border.

The Biden administration recently announced an expanded parole program and expanded Title 42 expulsions, but has called on Congress to pass a sweeping immigration bill introduced on Biden’The first day of office. 

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“That work will not be done unless and until Congress enacts and funds a more comprehensive immigration plan that I proposed on day one,” Earlier this month, he made these remarks in a speech at the White House.

But Republicans have balked at the bill’s inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country.