Tucson Standard

Tucson is ready for the suspension of the border policy, Title 42, mayor Regina Romero told the publication Mother Jones.

"This is not our first rodeo," the mayor said. "We’ve seen this before; we’ve seen ups and downs no matter what administration is there."

Title 42 is not immigration law, Romero told Mother Jones.

"It is a public health tool that the previous administration politicized,” she said. “It’s been far too long and people have been seeing Title 42 as if it were an immigration tool.”

On Twitter, Romero said regardless of the outcome of Title 42, "the City of Tucson will continue to accept asylum seekers until Congress passes meaningful immigration reform."

She told Mother Jones the city coordinates with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“We want them to communicate with us,” Romero said, to avoid situations like when border agents released immigrant families with no support or guidance to parks or Greyhound station in the middle of the night. 

“We are not going to accept that,” she said.

Section 265 of Title 42 was enacted on March 20, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, KGUN reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also supported it and President Joe Biden continued it. The provision has been used to expel 1.2 million asylum seekers since it began, the station said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus recommends reverting to enforcing Title 8 instead of continuing Title 42.

"It provides, I think, actually a better way to deal with the challenges that we face at the border," he said, KGUN reported.