By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis By — Rachel Liesendahl Rachel Liesendahl By — Tim McPhillips Tim McPhillips Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/as-title-42-ends-what-new-immigration-challenges-arise Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter As Title 42 ends, what new immigration challenges arise? Nation May 12, 2023 4:41 PM EST Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration program that allowed for the quick expulsion of migrants at the border, ended on May 11. Yet thousands of people continue to come to the border seeking entry into the United States, sparking concern among border control and immigration advocates alike. The Biden administration announced new policies this week that would help migrants seek new legal pathways to enter the U.S. but also tamp down on illegal entry into the U.S. But there is concern that efforts from lawmakers and the White House will not address the number of people trying to enter the country; Title 42 has been used more than 2.8 million times to remove migrants. There are two groups of people to watch as this policy ends, said immigration researcher and consultant Cris Ramón. One is those already waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border, “a population that has been growing over the years because they really haven’t been able to enter the United States and face expulsion.” The other is those coming from countries farther away, such as in South America, who could potentially travel to the border to enter the U.S. now that restrictions have been lifted. PBS NewsHour digital anchor Nicole Ellis spoke with immigration researcher and consultant Cris Ramón about the end of Title 42. Watch the conversation in the player above. The end of this policy affects other countries, too, Ramón said. That includes Mexico, where “NGOs and Mexican states and localities have already been struggling with trying to serve the large number of individuals who are waiting on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border,” signaling that this will be a long term challenge for both Mexican and U.S. governments. “Something that isn’t being considered by these two legislative efforts [by lawmakers and the White House] is that immigration is a hemispheric challenge,” Ramón said. Since 2014, the people who have been traveling to the border are significantly more vulnerable populations, including unaccompanied minors. “Individuals are coming from places that are farther, farther away in the hemisphere,” he said. From “2014 through 2019, we saw individuals coming from Central America and over the last two years, we started seeing more individuals coming from South America, from places like Venezuela.” With that reality, Ramón said, the approach needs to pivot accordingly. “It’s a hemispheric challenge and hemispheric challenges need hemispheric solutions.” By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis is PBS NewsHour's digital anchor where she hosts pre- and post-shows and breaking news live streams on digital platforms and serves as a correspondent for the nightly broadcast. Ellis joined the NewsHour from The Washington Post, where she was an Emmy nominated on-air reporter and anchor covering social issues and breaking news. In this role, she hosted, produced, and directed original documentaries and breaking news videos for The Post’s website, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Facebook and Twitch, earning a National Outstanding Breaking News Emmy Nomination for her coverage of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Ellis created and hosted The Post’s first original documentary series, “Should I freeze my eggs?,” in which she explores her own fertility and received the 2019 Digiday Publishers Award. She also created and hosted the Webby Award-winning news literacy series “The New Normal,” the most viewed video series in the history of The Washington Post’s women’s vertical, The Lily. She is the author of “We Go High,” a non-fiction self-help-by-proxy book on overcoming adversity publishing in 2022, and host of Critical Conversations on BookClub, an author-led book club platform. Prior to that, Ellis was a part of the production team for the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series, CNN Heroes. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Human Rights from Columbia University, as well as a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia Journalism School. By — Rachel Liesendahl Rachel Liesendahl Rachel Liesendahl is an online production assistant at the PBS NewsHour. By — Tim McPhillips Tim McPhillips @timmcphillips3
Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration program that allowed for the quick expulsion of migrants at the border, ended on May 11. Yet thousands of people continue to come to the border seeking entry into the United States, sparking concern among border control and immigration advocates alike. The Biden administration announced new policies this week that would help migrants seek new legal pathways to enter the U.S. but also tamp down on illegal entry into the U.S. But there is concern that efforts from lawmakers and the White House will not address the number of people trying to enter the country; Title 42 has been used more than 2.8 million times to remove migrants. There are two groups of people to watch as this policy ends, said immigration researcher and consultant Cris Ramón. One is those already waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border, “a population that has been growing over the years because they really haven’t been able to enter the United States and face expulsion.” The other is those coming from countries farther away, such as in South America, who could potentially travel to the border to enter the U.S. now that restrictions have been lifted. PBS NewsHour digital anchor Nicole Ellis spoke with immigration researcher and consultant Cris Ramón about the end of Title 42. Watch the conversation in the player above. The end of this policy affects other countries, too, Ramón said. That includes Mexico, where “NGOs and Mexican states and localities have already been struggling with trying to serve the large number of individuals who are waiting on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border,” signaling that this will be a long term challenge for both Mexican and U.S. governments. “Something that isn’t being considered by these two legislative efforts [by lawmakers and the White House] is that immigration is a hemispheric challenge,” Ramón said. Since 2014, the people who have been traveling to the border are significantly more vulnerable populations, including unaccompanied minors. “Individuals are coming from places that are farther, farther away in the hemisphere,” he said. From “2014 through 2019, we saw individuals coming from Central America and over the last two years, we started seeing more individuals coming from South America, from places like Venezuela.” With that reality, Ramón said, the approach needs to pivot accordingly. “It’s a hemispheric challenge and hemispheric challenges need hemispheric solutions.”