Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas has warned of a potential “catastrophe” at the southern border on Tuesday as “Title 42” is set to expire on December 21.
During an interview on CNN, Escobar told host Kate Bouldan about the possibilities border cities will face once the Trump-era pandemic policy used to expel migrants ends.
“I am afraid that a catastrophe will happen that, you know, that there will be homeless migrants on the streets and freezing temperatures and people will die,” Escobar said. “I’m worried about that. And will that break through the logjam in Congress? I don’t know if even that will change things.”
The U.S. has been seeing massive migrant numbers since Biden announced in April that he would be lifting “Title 42,” a controversial border policy implemented by former President Donald Trump back in March 2020 that allowed the border agency to turn migrants away.
Since then, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported that nearly 2.4 million migrants were detained at the border for the fiscal year ending in September, breaching the already-historic 1.7 million migrant detainees last year.
The numbers are likely only to increase with the impending ending of “Title 42.” Escobar called for what she called “immigration reform,” citing a labor shortage.
“There are a number of House Democrats who are concerned that, you know, if they sound — if they support immigration reform, that — you know, that will harm them at home,” she said. “And here’s the reality. Here’s the reality around that political issue. Poll after poll shows that Americans want us to pass immigration reform. We have the business community. I hear from business leaders all the time, Republican business leaders, CEOs who tell me, why can’t we put some of those folks to work?”
Reporters have reached out to Escobar for comment, but she did not immediately return the request.
The Biden administration’s border policy appears to have affected voting among members of the Hispanic population, a group of voters who normally support the Democratic Party in large numbers. Hispanic voters in the most recent midterm election appeared to change their political philosophies.
