Southern Denton County legislators express concern over Title 42’s end

By Taylor Millard, Contributing Writer

Southern Denton County’s legislators believe that President Joe Biden’s decision to end COVID-era border restrictions harm the Texas border.

The restrictions, known as Title 42, officially went away on May 11^th after about three years in effect. They allowed federal border agents to send illegal immigrants back to their country of origin, Mexico or Canada, or “another location as practical” to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Texas border communities are already overwhelmed by the surge of immigrants straining law enforcement, hospital and public health services, and more,” commented State Rep. Kronda Thimesch (R-Lewisville) on the decision and what’s happening at the Texas-Mexico border. “[T]he strain is too much; the increase in crime, drug smuggling, human trafficking is affecting all of Texas and costing us billions of taxpayer dollars. We have to take care of ourselves since the federal government won’t.”

Border Patrol reported a record-setting 83,000 migrants crossed the border illegally this week, according to media reports.

President Joe Biden said days before Title 42’s end that “It’s going to be chaotic for a while,” at the border. The White House is stalwart in its defense of the move, previously saying that the policy shouldn’t be in place forever because it was a public health measure, not an immigration measure. The United States’ COVID public health emergency expired this month.

State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), however, staunchly disagrees that the federal government is handling its responsibilities. “Every day, we see the real-world consequences of Biden’s open-border policy, from threats to public health to the unsustainable strain on our local economies and law enforcement. Texans have been forced to bear the burden of this administration’s failed immigration policies – ending Title 42 only makes those challenges even worse.”

Other state legislators think that the ending of Title 42 presents a larger safety issue through an increase in illegal immigration. “The situation at the border is dire,” said State Rep. Ben Bumgarner (R-Flower Mound). “We have a lot of people who are dying every day trying to cross [the Rio Grande River]…Texas needs help…We need help from the federal government.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked for a temporary restraining order this week in hopes of getting Title 42 back in place. He’d previously sued the federal government last year on the rules. The ACLU is also suing the Biden administration saying that new immigration regulations issued just as Title 42 expired are unconstitutional.