CBS19

A local member of the U.S. House of Representatives has asked the Biden administration to delay lifting a controversial order that affects migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Title 42 was put in place during the early parts of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to stop the spread of the virus by allowing the quick expulsion of migrants.

Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the spread of COVID-19 by migrants arrested at the border is no longer a serious danger to public health.

So the Biden administration recently announced that the order would be lifted.

This week, Congresswomen Abigail Spanberger and Elissa Slotkin sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. State Department and the White House Domestic Policy Adviser concerning the order.

The letter urges these officials to consider delaying lifting Title 42 until there is a comprehensive plan in place to address the “inevitable migration surge” that will take place at the border.

“We are concerned about how DHS will contend with an increase of people, including children and families, that will more than triple the department’s capacity without ample and robust planning,” wrote Spanberger and Slotkin. “And while the administration gave itself two months to prepare, what has been shared with us to date seems like too little, too late, especially when the removal of Title 42 will occur at the same time that a spike in seasonal migration occurs.”

Both representatives have experience with the CIA. They recommend instituting an “in-country processing in Central America” to make the process to apply for legal status outside the United States a viable option for people.

Such a process could also free up more resources to help asylum seekers.

To read the full letter, click here.