During a major\u00a0White House\u00a0speech Thursday announcing expanded border measures, President Biden fumbled while discussing the replacement of Title 42, a public health law that has been used to deter migrants at the border.
\nThe speech came days before the president\u2019s first-ever visit to the southern border next week as his administration struggles to deal with a historic\u00a0surge in migrants. Asked why he\u2019s visiting now when Republicans have been calling on him to visit since the start of his presidency, Biden shot back that Republicans “haven\u2019t been serious about this at all.”
\nThe president then predicted that Title 42 would be gone by the end of the year.
\n“Title 42 is going to go away before the end of the year, in terms of the Supreme Court. My prediction. And then we\u2019re going to have to use Title 9,” Biden said before quickly correcting himself to “Title 8.
\n“Eight, right? Am I right? Yeah, Title Eight. Eight-nine,” Biden said, appearing flustered.
\nAt another point in the speech, Biden mispronounced U.S. Customs and Border Protection as “Customs and Border Patrol” while discussing fentanyl seizures.
\nSince March 2020,\u00a0Title 42\u00a0has been used to deter asylum-seeking migrants some 2.5 million times at the U.S.-Mexico border. The law was enforced during the Trump administration as an emergency health measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
\nBiden moved to end the Title 42 restrictions, and Republicans sued to keep them. The U.S. Supreme Court has kept the rules in place for now. White House officials say they still believe the restrictions should end, but they maintain they can continue to turn away migrants under immigration law.
\nShould Title 42 end the Biden administration would revert to Title 8, which mandates that any illegal immigration present in the United States “without being admitted or paroled, or who arrives in the United States at any time or place other than as designated by the Attorney General, is inadmissible.”
\nBiden said Thursday the U.S. would immediately begin turning away Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans who cross the border from Mexico illegally. The new rules expand on an existing effort to stop Venezuelans attempting to enter the U.S., which began in October and led to a dramatic drop in Venezuelans coming to the southern border.<\/p>\n