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In early July, the Department of Homeland Security drafted a plan to halt the use of Title 42, a Trump-era pandemic policy used to expel migrant families, according to internal government documents obtained by CBS News. But the plan was reportedly set aside when senior White House and DHS officials expressed concern about the risks of stopping the policy as arrests of migrants had jumped to a 21-year high and the COVID-19 was spreading rapidly. So the Biden administration instead issued its own order defending the use of Title 42. “The internal split around Title 42 is part of broader divisions within the Biden administration over border policy that have boiled over amid record numbers of migrant apprehensions,” four people with knowledge of the situation told CBS News. “We are in this very weird place where we’re implementing Title 42 more strongly than the Trump administration did,” a Biden appointee who requested anonymity told CBS News. CBS News
In other federal immigration news…
Republican Senators Ask GOP Not to Pay Families Separated at Border
On Monday, 11 Republican senators requested the Biden administration stop attempting to settle lawsuits from immigrant families who separated at the border during the Trump administration. “[R]ewarding illegal immigration with financial payments runs counter to our laws and would only serve to encourage more lawlessness at our border,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and the 10 other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote in a letter toBiden. “To that end, I ask that your administration refuse to issue any settlement payments for aliens who broke our laws.” Wall Street Journal
Senate Democrats Present Immigration Plan to Senate Parliamentarian
Senate Democrats will present their “Plan C” proposal on immigration reform to the Senate parliamentarian as soon as Tuesday, after the parliamentarian rejected previous plans. Their push to get the plan approved by the parliamentarian comes after lawmakers received a cost estimate from the the Congressional Budget Office Friday, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Lawmakers were ready to pitch the proposal, which includes work authorization and protections for undocumented immigrants against deportation, as soon as Tuesday. The plan is a “notch down” from previous proposals, which would have included a pathway to citizenship. Bloomberg Government
