Kelly introduces bill to extend Title 42, strengthen U.S. border security

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This week, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) introduced H.R. 7707, The Spc. Bishop E. Evans Border Security Act, which will strengthen U.S. border security by extending Title 42 authority through the Biden presidency amid record illegal immigration over the last year.

H.R. 1707 would extend Title 42 authority by codify in statue the CDC Title 42 expulsion order, a critical tool for Homeland Security, until February 1, 2025.  Specifically, the bill would codify in statute the CDC title 42 expulsion order, which suspends the right for certain aliens to enter the United States along United States land borders, until February 1, 2025. 

“I have no confidence in the Biden administration to develop a long-term, comprehensive immigration plan,” Kelly said. “Over the last sixteen months, the Biden administration has shown they cannot contain the continuing surge of migrants. Instead, they have only delivered empty rhetoric. Immigration facilities remain overwhelmed with waves of illegal immigrants crossing by the thousands, and I saw that firsthand when I visited the Southern border last May. Extending Title 42 provides a vital, short-term solution for the Department of Homeland Security to maintain the flow of illegal immigrants at our nation’s borders. Lifting Title 42 will only make the humanitarian crisis worse."

BACKGROUND
Title 42 is a public health and welfare statute enacted in 1944 that gave the U.S. surgeon general the authority—that was later transferred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—to determine whether communicable disease in a foreign country poses a danger of spreading in the U.S., either by people or property entering the country.  If the CDC finds that a disease does pose a threat, it can, with approval from the president, temporarily prohibit them from entering the country to avert danger. 

Under the Trump Administration’s interpretation of Title 42, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents could immediately remove anyone entering the country without authorization to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.  This “new” interpretation of policy closed the border to nonessential travel in the “interest of public health.” Title 42 is tentatively set to expire on May 23, 2022. Rep. Kelly's bill is the House companion legislation to a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

The border crisis has impacted Pennsylvania in numerous ways since President Biden assumed office in Jan. 2021. In April 2021, nearly 150 migrant children were housed at an emergency intake site in Erie, Pennsylvania. Rep. Kelly then traveled to the Southern border in May 2021 to better learn about the growing concerns of illegal immigration into the United States. Then, in late 2021, the federal government reportedly chartered flights with illegal migrants to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania area. In all, more than 2 million migrants came to the border in 2021.

This bill is named after Spc. Bishop E. Evans, the 22-year-old field artilleryman from Arlington, Texas, who died saving drowning migrants on the southern border.  Evans was washed away after attempting to rescue two migrants who struggled as they tried to cross the Rio Grande. While Spc. Evans heroically served his home state of Texas and the country as a member of the National Guard, he shouldn’t have had to die because of the Biden Administration’s inability to effectively deal with surge of illegal border crossings.