Trump officials prepare plans to revive Title 42 policy to expel migrants, documents show [View all]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: February 23, 2025 / 12:40 PM EST


Washington — The Trump administration has prepared plans to implement a policy that would allow U.S. immigration officials to swiftly expel migrants on the grounds that they could spread diseases like tuberculosis, according to internal government documents obtained by CBS News. The plans would revive a border measure known as Title 42 that the first Trump administration enacted at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to authorize summary expulsions of migrants.

The Biden administration kept that policy in place amid record levels of illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border until letting it expire in 2023. The revival of Title 42 would also add another layer to an unprecedented web of border measures enacted by President Trump since taking office to close down the American asylum system. One of those actions has allowed U.S. border officials to quickly deport migrants from the U.S., without granting them an opportunity to request asylum, a right foreigners have under domestic and international refugee law.

The authority underpinning that policy, called 212(f), permits presidents to ban the entry of foreigners whose arrival is deemed to be "detrimental" to the U.S. But the new measure would invoke the Public Health Service Act, found in Title 42 of the U.S. code, to empower officials to expel migrants without any of the processing outlined in federal immigration law, which says those on U.S. soil can request asylum even if they enter the country illegally.

The internal documents obtained by CBS News indicate the CDC is planning to issue an order that would label unauthorized migrants trying to enter the U.S. as public health risks, citing concerns that they could spread communicable diseases like tuberculosis.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-title-42-migrants-documents/