Today, May 19th, 2022, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (IA-02), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 7760, the Strengthening Our Health Security Act. This legislation would prohibit terminating Title 42 until at least 60 days after the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended and Congress has been notified.
“Title 42 is an important tool to keep law enforcement and border communities safe during the current border crisis and ongoing public health emergency. If the Administration insists on keeping the public health emergency in place, then it is only logical to keep Title 42 in place as well,” said Miller-Meeks. “The majority of public reports show that lifting Title 42 will cause a significant increase of migration across the U.S.-Mexico border, overwhelming the already understaffed and strained law enforcement officers working to keep our country safe. We need to continue to provide more support to those working to secure our border, not less.”
Background:
The Strengthening Our Health Security Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to provide Congress with a public health plan for processing migrants at the border. The plan must include a process for screening migrants for COVID-19 and other communicable diseases, details on the agencies’ testing capacity, protocols to protect Federal employees, a process for screening for imported illicit/controlled substances, as well as protocols to prevent and treat other communicable diseases.
Following the April announcement of plans to revoke Title 42, Miller-Meeks slammed the decision, led over 60 House Republicans in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers on the Administration’s plans to secure the border if Title 42 is lifted, and signed on as a cosponsor to the bipartisan and bicameral Public Health and Border Security Act.
Title 42 is a provision included in the Public Health Service Act of 1944 that permits federal health officials to prohibit entry of individuals and goods from foreign countries when there is a communicable disease present. The idea had existed in varying forms since 1893 until finally being codified into law.
In March 2020, the Trump Administration invoked Title 42 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, preventing migrants presenting themselves at the border for asylum from remaining in the country while their cases were processed. The Biden Administration had largely continued the Trump Administration’s policy but announced that it will begin rolling back the policy on May 23rd, 2022.
Original source can be found here
