Officers in Eagle Pass, Texas, are setting up a tent compound in anticipation that the CDC may end Title 42 next week, according to reports from The Daily Mail.
The tent complex is meant to aid Border Patrol workers in processing an influx of migrants and provide additional housing as people come across the border in the Del Rio sector, a historically popular border crossing region.
The CDC announced that it will end Title 42 on Monday because “COVID-19 cases have decreased and vaccines are widely available.”
That date could be in question, as multiple legal battles are still ongoing regarding the policy.
Judge Robert Summerhays of Louisiana heard arguments for and against Title 42.
States including Arizona, Missouri, and Louisiana argued that the Biden administration “failed to account for the added cost to them of more migrants.”
The Biden administration, on the other hand, argued that the CDC has the authority to end the mandate because it qualifies as a “public health plan” and not an immigration order.
Summerhays has not issued a ruling in the injunction case but says he will release a judgment before the May 23 date provided by CDC. He already issued a temporary restraining order to keep Title 42 in place until he can make a ruling.
Border Patrol officers are preparing for the possibility that the mandate will be removed. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released a statement detailing how CBP should handle an increase of migrants after Title 42 ends.
“We will increase personnel and resources as needed and have redeployed more than 600 law enforcement officers to the border. We are referring smugglers and certain border crossers for criminal prosecution. Over the next two months, we are putting in place additional, appropriate COVID-19 protocols, including ramping up our vaccination program,” Mayorkas wrote.
