Sinema, Kelly urge Biden to avoid abrupt repeal of Title 42 at border

Arizona’s two senators are asking President Joe Biden to avoid abruptly ending Title 42, a controversial public health rule that has been used to expel more than 1.7 million migrants and asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly, both D-Ariz., sent a letter Thursday to the White House saying that doing away with Title 42 without having a plan to ensure a “secure, orderly, and humane process” could create additional hardships on border communities.

“To date, we have not yet seen evidence that (the Department of Homeland Security) has developed and implemented a sufficient plan to maintain a humane and orderly process in the event of an end to Title 42,” Sinema and Kelly wrote in their letter.

Title 42 has been in place at the U.S.-Mexico border since March 2020, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under then-President Donald Trump implemented emergency restrictions intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.