Tucson Standard

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Brownsville, Texas Mayor Trey Mendez released a joint statement April 25 to express support for President Joe Biden’s decision to end the Title 42 border policy.

The Biden administration will end the Title 42 pandemic restrictions on asylum processing on May 23, according to The Hill.

“We support the Biden administration’s decision to repeal Title 42 and uphold our legal and moral obligation of providing the fundamental right to seek asylum,” the statement read. "It is the smart thing to do and it is the right thing to do. A fair and humane immigration system should be a priority for all of our leaders, not just those such as us who see the effects of a broken system every day.”

US border | Flickr

Under Title 42, officials could use the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to expel migrants from the border or other ports of entry without processing them for deportation or allowing them to claim asylum. With the end of the restriction, border officials will again be able to process migrants encountered at the border under regular immigration law, The Hill reported.

“Title 42 was never an immigration policy and it never worked as such at our southern border,” Romero and Mendez said in their statement. “It was a public health order that (former) President (Donald) Trump manipulated to further his exclusionary agenda and mainstream anti-immigrant rhetoric.” 

Romero, a Democrat, and Mendez both supported Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Some Democrats have criticized the decision to end Title 42, claiming that ending the policy would cause chaos at the border and more battles with Republicans over migration and border security. Romero and Mendez said other Democrats need to focus more on the rights of immigrants than border security.

“Instead of caving into the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the Republicans, Congress should work on real immigration reform that doesn’t exploit an arcane public health authority to deny people their basic, human right to seek asylum,” the two wrote in the statement.

The mayors of the two border towns said they would do all they can to promote both border security and a return to normal immigration practices.

“Our offices are working closely with the Biden administration and with various community organizations on the ground to ensure that there are resources in place to execute a comprehensive plan to process asylum seekers, crack down on cartels and establish appropriate COVID-19 protocols,” they wrote. “We must remain steadfast in our work to provide refuge to those fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries, just as our European allies are doing with Ukrainian refugees.”