Removing Title 42 will eventually result in fewer border crossings.

Despite popular forecasts of a major migrant influx in the months ahead, a senior Department of Homeland Security official believes the number of migrant interactions at the southern border will reduce after the Biden administration lifts the Title 42 public health order later this month.

At a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned Blas Nunez-Neto, acting assistant secretary for border and immigration policy, about a halt to Title 42. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the order has been utilized to remove the bulk of migrants at the southern border from March 2020.

“Title 42 has had a really unusual effect on migration in that it has actually inflated our statistics at the border because of the amount of repeat border crossers we encounter,” Nunez-Neto said. According to research, Title 42 has resulted in a rise in migration, mainly from Mexico, due to the absence of penalties for migrants seeking to enter the United States while the order is in place.

“Do you believe that deleting it will reduce the quantity of illegal immigration?” Hawley inquired.

Nunez-Neto claims that as the Biden administration moves away from Title 42 and toward expedited removal, there will be fewer border contacts. Expedited removal is a method of deporting recent migrants who have not applied for asylum and passed a screening.

“I believe you will see a decline over time until we reimpose serious immigration repercussions on people at the border through our use of expedited removal, particularly for single adults and especially for those from Mexico,” Nunez-Neto said. The Washington Post was the first to report on the exchange.

Hawley had his doubts.

Hawley said, “That is news, ladies, and gentlemen.” “You still want Title 42 repealed, and you believe repealing it would reduce illegal immigration at the border.” The remark is a departure from the administration’s previous statements, which have focused on how it plans to deal with an increase in migration. It has been stated that once the injunction is lifted, it expects up to 18,000 migrant interactions every day. Arrivals are expected to quadruple, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Officials and several immigration experts have been predicting for months that after Title 42 is repealed, the number of encounters will drop owing to fewer repeat attempts at the entrance. Migrants who are expelled under Title 42 are not punished if they attempt to cross the border again, thus many will do it numerous times. As a result, the number of border contacts every month increases.

Only 159,900 of the 221,303 migrant interactions in March were “unique,” according to Customs and Border Protection. Between FY 2014 and 2019, 28 percent of the 221,303 had at least one prior interaction, compared to 14 percent between FY 2014 and 2019.

Title 42 is a public health directive, not an immigration order, according to the Biden administration, which has urged Congress to adopt immigration changes instead. Last year, Democrats offered a package endorsed by the Obama administration that featured a broad amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, but it failed to owe to Republican opposition.

A bipartisan measure has been introduced that would prevent the Biden administration from lifting the order until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has concluded its public health emergency for COVID-19 and has an acceptable strategy in place.

Meanwhile, 21 Republican states have filed a lawsuit to prevent the directive from being halted. The case will be heard in court next week.