Democratic senator blames TRUMP administration for “challenges” of Title 42 ending

Democratic California Senator Alex Padilla on Sunday suggested that the Donald Trump administration is to blame for the expected chaos at the U.S.-Mexico border when the COVID-19-era Title 42 expulsion directive expires.

Title 42 allows border officials to immediately expel migrants regardless of their status as asylum seekers to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Officials are preparing for up to 18,000 undocumented migrants crossing the border per day after the guideline was lifted at midnight on Dec. 21, according to ABC News.

Republican officials called on the Biden administration to expand policy, citing the dramatic drain on federal, state and local resources.

Democrat Padilla, who has long opposed the policy, admitted on ABC’s This Week program that the ending of Title 42 will present “challenges,” but credited the Trump White House and the Republicans’ “completely irresponsible” approach Lawmakers blamed the border.

“I’m not saying it won’t be a challenge. But let’s understand why it’s such a challenge,” the senator said. “Because the previous government starved the very departments and agencies with the resources they need, not just to patrol the border, but to process those legitimate asylum claims.”

“That’s why individuals or even families come across the border.”

He went a step further, dismissing GOP criticism of President Joe Biden’s handling of the border as partisan hand-wringing with no real solutions.

Democratic Senator Alex Padilla of California, responding to his governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, warned that the US immigration system could “collapse” after Title 42 ends

Padilla claimed Republican lawmakers’ trips to the border — which have become increasingly frequent amid their pressure on Biden to visit them himself — were merely “political stunts.”

The senator insisted the Biden administration “has been preparing for the end of Title 42 for months” but declined to answer whether or not he expects the end of politics in his own state on Wednesday to be “smooth.” .

“We will see – I’m sure – that departments make every effort to maintain the safety, order and fairness of people who are seeking asylum or who have other determinations that they are on other grounds or in other places come,” Padilla replied.

“But here’s the biggest frustration: You know, despite all the Republican rhetoric about border chaos, open borders, etc. – number one – they have yet to come up with a plan on how to better handle the scenario.”

He also accused Republicans in Congress of refusing to provide “the additional resources” the federal government needs to better secure the border and fix the immigration system.

“They go to the border, have these political stunts – whether it’s a press conference at the border or fly over in a Black Hawk – but don’t offer any meaningful solutions,” Padilla said, adding that it was “completely irresponsible”.

Democrats are divided on Title 42.

Asylum-seeking migrants exit the Rio Bravo River after crossing it to report to US Border Patrol agents to apply for asylum in El Paso, Texas, United States, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, December 17 seen

Noting that Title 42 was implemented as a COVID-19 policy and not an immigration policy, Padilla said: “We are in a very different place today in relation to COVID than we were two, almost three years ago. So it’s high time that Title 42 is gone.

Padilla’s fellow Democratic senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, spearheaded a bipartisan letter to Biden urging him to extend Title 42 despite a court order to end it.

It was supported by Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar.

And California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that the US immigration system “will crumble” if Title 42 is repealed, and accused the federal government of placing a “disproportionate” burden on the Sunshine State.

“What we have right now isn’t working and is about to burst into a post-42 world unless we take some responsibility and ownership,” he told ABC News last week.

Padilla, meanwhile, pointed out that Title 42 was raised by the Trump administration as COVID-19 public health policy rather than immigration policy.

“We are in a very different place today in relation to COVID than we were two, almost three years ago. So it’s high time Title 42 was gone,’ he said.