Wednesday marks three weeks until the expected end of the controversial COVID-era public health policy used since 2020 to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants at the southern border.
Title 42 is still entangled in a legal battle that has made it up to the U.S. Supreme Court, but nonprofits are anticipating its end and are preparing for a surge of migrants allowed to seek asylum in the U.S.
Title 42 is set to wind down by May 11. The Biden administration has said it wants the policy to come to an end.
The number of migrants arriving by bus in Dallas varies every week.
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A nondescript white bus pulled up to Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas Wednesday morning with 27 migrant men, mostly from Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador. The group is smaller compared to what the non-governmental organization is preparing to potentially welcome in the coming weeks and months.
“We are ready to receive as many people, we have capacity to receive up to 100 people each time,” said Pastor Isabel Marquez of the church.
The processing center inside the Oak Lawn church could be asked to help process 100 migrants a day for up to five days a week, though plans have not been finalized.
The men who arrived Wednesday traveled from a detention center in Eden, Texas, after surrendering themselves to U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso. The groups of migrants arriving at the welcoming center in Oak Lawn have been vetted and have a sponsor in the U.S.
Although the church has cots and pillows set up, the migrants do not typically remain in Dallas beyond a few hours.
“We find flights for our guests and we coordinate who’s going to take them to the airport, make sure we get our guests fed and a new set of clothes,” said volunteer coordinator Catalina Muniz.
These migrants are considered "the lucky ones" because Title 42 has allowed the immediate expulsion of hundreds of thousands of other asylum seekers back to Mexico or their home countries. The Trump administration implemented the CDC policy in 2020 to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Migrant advocates argue the policy has been intentionally misused to keep undocumented migrants from being allowed entry into the U.S. for asylum hearings.
The expulsions have created a chaotic backlog in Mexico, as people wait for the opportunity to legally seek asylum in the U.S., including thousands of Haitians and Central Americans.
Title 42 has remained in place after several stays ordered by federal judges.
The Biden Administration has said it supports the end of the program because the public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has officially ended, so it’s no longer needed.
The Supreme Court ordered a stay in the policy and is expected to soon hear oral arguments in the matter. A decision from the high court could come in June, after the end of Title 42, according to some legal experts.
For now, the Dallas church will continue to welcome weekly busloads of migrants on their way to their final destinations in the U.S.
If Title 42 ends and there is a surge at the border the church says it is looking into potentially setting up space inside a local airport to help process migrants more quickly.
