Title 42, a measure that prevents migrants from getting asylum in the U.S. due to COVID, is expected to end next month as the country lifts its national public health emergency.

Meanwhile, federal immigration agencies are ramping up severe immigration policies ahead of the policy ending on May 11.

Federal authorities expelled more than 235,000 asylum seekers in the first three months of 2023 under Title 42, according to government data. Since the start of Title 42 in March 2020, the U.S. has removed over 2.8 million asylum seekers.

That includes families, children and people traveling alone.

The premise of Title 42 was to increase COVID precautions. Health officials said that policy actually lacks public health reasoning.

Title 42 is a federal code that allows the federal government to expel migrants who have come from a country with a communicable disease. Ending the policy means the U.S. has to process migrants under typical immigration laws, allowing them again to seek asylum instead of deportation.

Sophia Genovese is an attorney at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center. She said its likely a rush of asylum seekers will come to the U.S. when the policy lifts.

While its a good thing that Title 42 is ending, she said, there are still overly strict immigration policies in place.

In January, with the end of Title 42 in mind, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a string of new, strict border enforcement measures. One measure proposes rapidly kicking migrants out of the U.S. known as expedited removal who arent eligible for Title 42 under Title 8 instead.

Under Title 8, if asylum officers determine that migrants dont have a credible fear back in their home country or migrants dont ask for asylum, the federal government can remove them from the country. Genovese said this is a big issue.

Were wasting a lot of money on expulsions and deportations, instead of being rational and recognizing that migration is normal, she said.

Genovese said there are expedited removal violations at the Torrance County Detention Center, one of three immigrant detention centers in New Mexico. It has a history of violating federal standards. Migrants have also repeatedly reported inhumane conditions, and one Brazilian asylum seeker being held at Torrance died by suicide last year.

Federal officials hold credible fear interviews to ensure that migrants have a reason to be afraid of returning to their home country. Genovese said some interviews at Torrance have been violating due process rights, with officers asking few questions in interviews, only asking yes-or-no questions when questions are supposed to be open-ended and speeding through interviews.

She said shes working with a migrant from Ecuador who speaks Kichwa and was forced to proceed with an interview in Spanish, despite not even speaking that language.

Genovese said the U.S. deportation exodus only creates a larger mess than what is necessary in the end.

No amount of border policies are going to limit migration, she said. What this causes instead is chaos, and it feels intentional.

Genovese pointed out that providing accessible services to migrants, such as legal help, is less costly than detaining them.

They are invested in the process, and simply need access to information and services to meaningfully participate in that process, she said.

Genovese said the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center wants to see alternatives to detention, like Immigrant Customs and Enforcement check-ins and community-based models of assistance.

People want to comply with court orders. They want to comply with the law, she said. People are here because they generally fear returning to their home countries, and they want whats best for them and their familys safety.

Immigration is ultimately up to the federal government. Genovese said the state government cant interfere with the enforcement of these policies.

However, New Mexico could show solidarity for migrants, she said, and employ strategies like welcoming centers. She brought up Portland, where an immigration welcome center provides access to legal services, food programs and language education.

How powerful would that be, if perhaps the City of Albuquerque did that, or other cities within the state supported by the state government are able to establish these welcoming centers, she said. So that people have the tools that they need to get through their asylum process.

One New Mexico representative is asking for the New Mexico National Guard to be sent to the southern border to help stem the flow of illegal activity.

Rep. Jenifer Jones (R-Deming) sent a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week referencing a conversation the two had during the Legislature about potential federal funds to send the New Mexico National Guard to the border. Jones said state funds could be used if theres no federal assistance.

Maddie Hayden, spokesperson for the governors office, said via email that the New Mexico National Guard is ready to assist with non-enforcement related work at the southern border, at the request of the federal government.

Congress ultimately bears responsibility for finding a solution on federal immigration policy, she wrote, but until Republicans recognize that border security and humanitarian aid are not mutually exclusive, this fundamentally federal issue will continue to fester without a solution in sight.

Hayden said Lujan Grisham agrees with Jones that public safety is paramount, including at the southern border. She added that the governor is committed to dedicating whatever resources are needed to keep New Mexicans safe.

New Mexico Senate allows immigration detention to continue

In the letter, Jones said the flow of illegal activity will likely increase when Title 42 lifts, worsening a crisis of illegal drugs coming across the southern border and the threat of human trafficking.

Genovese said Democrats cant fall victim to messages like the one from Jones and try to appease white nationalism.

Its fear-mongering by Republicans, predominantly, about the immigrants, the asylum seekers, the migrants, failures to recognize humanity in our neighbors, she said. Its completely racist and xenophobic.

She said Biden also shouldnt try to appease these Republicans. His administration has expelled more people under Title 42 than the Trump administration that enacted it, according to the government statistics. Genovese said too often, Democrats like Biden try to placate Republicans by showing force around the southern border.

Its caused a tremendous amount of chaos and more harm, she said.

Bidens stance on Title 42 has swayed over the years, with the administration often denouncing inhumane immigration policies while still keeping them in effect.

Congressional members pointed out Bidens mixed messages in January. They sent a letter to Biden arguing against the expansion of Title 42. New Mexicos U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujn and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernndez signed that letter along with 75 other officials.

The Biden administration as well as immigration advocacy centers have failed to end Title 42 numerous times.

As a result of that and Title 8 being in effect, Genovese said there have been and still are thousands upon thousands of migrants and asylum seekers waiting in Mexico. Many are often in very dangerous situations, she added.

When asylum seekers rush into the U.S. when Title 42 lifts, she said, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol wont have the capacity to hold everyone, meaning some will get through undetected and officials will just have to allow others through.

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Severe immigration policies intensify as Title 42 nears its end - Source New Mexico