Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas said Sunday the Biden administration is listening to immigration advocates — though not its own agents or border communities — as it forges ahead with its decision to lift pandemic-era rules that allowed the U.S. to turn away many illegal immigrants.
Mr. Cueller, a centrist Democrat, said the decision to lift the Title 42 order on May 23 is not sitting well with many residents and border officers in his border district around Laredo.
“My question is who is listening to the men and women in green and in blue?” Mr. Cuellar told “Fox News Sunday.” “We need to listen to the border communities.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced its decision to lift Title 42, saying it is ready to move beyond the emergency measure that was put in place by former President Donald Trump and maintained by President Biden.
The decision kicked up a firestorm among Republicans and centrist Democrats facing tough reelection bids this November. They say the administration doesn’t appear to have a plan to deal with an expected surge in illegal immigration due to the policy change.
“Title 42 is a health issue, but it’s all inter-related,” Mr. Cuellar said.
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He said criminal organizations that operate at the border will be keenly aware of the policy change, so the administration needs to address it.
Mr. Cueller said it appears that 6 in 10 federal agents are working at border-processing centers instead of patrolling the border spots where migrants sneak in.
“It’s like having a school and we’re only teaching with 40% of the teachers and the other 60% are not teaching,” he said.
He also said migrants seeking asylum should remain in other countries.
Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, said that the remain-in-Mexico program under the Biden administration is too narrow and that he’s not sure if the current team can ramp it up or enforce it effectively.
“I don’t think Mexico will agree to do this again. I’m not sure it’s going to work under this administration,” Mr. McCaul said. “We just simply can’t absorb this.”
He said he recently saw Ukrainian refugees flooding across the border into Poland amid Russia’s invasion of their country.
“Although in that case, they want to go back home,” Mr. McCaul said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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