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Title 42 has come to an end.
At 11:59 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, the pandemic-era immigration policy introduced by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 lapsed, marking the end of an era for the border-enforcement tool.
Here’s a look at what comes next.
What is Title 42?
The policy allowed the U.S. to immediately remove migrants, even if they were seeking asylum. The Trump administration cast the policy as health-related, arguing it would stem the spread of COVID-19. Title 42 ended at the same time as a separate public health emergency.
What will replace Title 42?
The Biden administration, which continued the Trump-era Title 42 policy, has a number of plans in place in the wake of its expiration.
The U.S. is now expected to rely more on what’s known as Title 8. That section of U.S. law was used at the borders pre-pandemic. It allows migrants to seek asylum, but calls for stiff penalties if migrants are found entering the country illegally.
“The lifting of the Title 42 order does not mean the border is open,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in April. “When the Title 42 order lifts at 11:59 PM on May 11, the United States will return to using Title 8 immigration authorities to expeditiously process and remove individuals who arrive at the U.S. border unlawfully.”
The administration is also toughening asylum rules so applications are only open to those who can show they applied to third countries and were rejected, according to NBC News.
What did the Biden administration say ahead of the expiration?
President Joe Biden has said his administration is trying to ensure an orderly transition. But he told reporters this week, “It’s going to be chaotic for a while.”
On a visit to Texas on May 5, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a warning to would-be migrants, saying, “You are risking your lives and life savings only to meet a consequence that you do not expect at our southern border.”
During a White House press briefing on Thursday, Mayorkas said: “The transition to Title 8 processing will be swift and immediate.”
“We prepared for this moment for almost two years, and our plan will deliver results. It will take time for those results to be fully realized,” the Homeland Security boss also said.
“I want to be very clear: Our borders are not open,” he added.
What have congressional Republicans said?
House Republicans passed a bill Thursday that would restrict asylum and build more U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The measure has little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the White House has said Biden would veto it.
Some House lawmakers raised concerns about whether agricultural businesses would be disrupted by the measure’s rules for verifying the immigration status of agriculture employees, the Associated Press reported.
What’s happening with broader immigration reforms?
Analysts have said they aren’t optimistic about progress on immigration in 2023 in a divided Washington, but Mayorkas repeatedly pushed for action during Thursday’s briefing.
“We again — yet again — call on Congress to pass desperately needed immigration reform and deliver the resources, clear authorities and modernized processes that we need,” Mayorkas said.
“We are working with an immigration system that was last reformed in the 1990s. Migration has changed dramatically since then, and we need our laws updated,” he also said.
From MarketWatch’s archives (December 2022): ‘We need more people,’ says Fed’s Powell. What does that mean for immigration reform?
