Democrat Sen. Sinema Calls for Delaying End of Title 42

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is calling on the Biden administration to delay lifting the Title 42 immigration policy, put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, that allowed for the expulsion of migrants due to the virus.

In a Thursday press release, Sinema said the recent plan to extend the travel mask mandate “proves the need to delay lifting Title 42.”

She cited the protection of the “health and safety of Arizona communities and migrants” as a reason to extend the pandemic-era immigration policy.

“I’ll keep pushing for transparency and accountability from the Administration to help secure the border, keep Arizona communities safe, and ensure migrants are treated fairly and humanely.”

Last week, Sinema, along with a group of bipartisan lawmakers, introduced the Public Health and Border Security Act of 2022, which seeks to create “a comprehensive, workable plan” for removing the Title 42 policy. The law would delay the measure’s end by at least 60 days, noting that the surgeon general must provide “written notification to the appropriate authorizing and appropriating committees of Congress” two months ahead of its planned end.

TRUMP-ENDORSED ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL KARI LAKE HOLDS UNDERWHELMING LEAD

“Arizona communities bear the brunt of the federal government’s failure at our border, so we’re stepping in and protecting border communities by ensuring the Administration works hand-in-hand with local leaders, law enforcement, and non-profits to put a comprehensive, workable plan in place before lifting Title 42,” Sinema said in a press release last week.

Fellow Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly echoed her concern, saying that President Joe Biden’s administration was “wrong to set an end date for Title 42 without a comprehensive plan in place.”

Fellow senators who signed on to the bill include Sens. James Lankford, John Cornyn, Joe Manchin, Shelley Moore Capito, Jon Tester, Rob Portman, Maggie Hassan, Thom Tillis, and John Thune.

Kelly and Sinema also sent a letter to Biden urging him not to allow the end of this policy. “We have not yet seen evidence that DHS has developed and implemented a sufficient plan to maintain a humane and orderly process in the event of an end to Title 42,” the duo wrote.

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Asking for a comprehensive plan, the two cited the impact of the policy’s end on “border communities, border security, and migrants.”