What is the US 'Title 42' immigration policy and why is it expanding? | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 12, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2025
What is the US 'Title 42' immigration policy and why is it expanding?

USA

Reuters
07 January, 2023, 09:15 am
Last modified: 07 January, 2023, 09:18 am

Related News

  • 35% tariff: Bangladesh, US 'reach general consensus on some issues' on second day of talks; final round today
  • US remains Bangladesh’s top export destination
  • Trump's tariffs: What's in effect and what could be in store?
  • Tariffs drive US clothing imports from China to 22-year low in May
  • US wants easier access for military equipment, LNG, wheat, cotton imports: Commerce secretary

What is the US 'Title 42' immigration policy and why is it expanding?

Reuters
07 January, 2023, 09:15 am
Last modified: 07 January, 2023, 09:18 am
FILE PHOTO: Asylum-seeking migrants, mostly from Venezuela, walk near the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, September 17, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
FILE PHOTO: Asylum-seeking migrants, mostly from Venezuela, walk near the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, September 17, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

The United States announced on Thursday it will extend Covid-19 pandemic-era restrictions, known as Title 42, to expel migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti caught crossing the US-Mexico border back to Mexico, a move would block more nationalities from seeking asylum in the United States.

At the same time, the White House said it would open more legal pathways for migrants from those nations to apply to enter the country from abroad.

Why are migrants blocked at the border under Covid rules? 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, US health authorities issued Title 42 to allow border agents to rapidly send migrants crossing the US-Mexico border back to Mexico or other countries.

The order was implemented under Republican former President Donald Trump, whose administration sought to greatly curtail both immigration. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said at the time it was needed to stem the spread of Covid-19 in crowded detention settings.

Some public health experts, Democrats and advocates have criticized and pushed back against the order, saying it unlawfully blocked migrants from claiming asylum and subjected them to dangers, like kidnapping and assault, in Mexico. Migrants and immigrant advocate organizations sued seeking to lift the order, while Republican states have sued to keep it in place, litigation that is still ongoing.

How did Biden handle title 42? 

US President Joe Biden, a Democrat who took office in January 2021, campaigned on a promise to reverse Trump's restrictive asylum policies.

While Biden moved to end some Trump restrictions, he left Title 42 in place for more than a year, exempting unaccompanied children but allowing US authorities to send hundreds of thousands of migrants, including families, back to Mexico.

Since Biden took office, there have been record numbers of migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border, causing operational and political challenges for his administration. Many have repeatedly crossed after being expelled under Title 42 to nearby Mexican border cities.

Mexico, however, had initially only accepted the return of some nationalities, including its own citizens and migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. In October, the expulsions were expanded to Venezuelans. Other nationalities have generally been let into the United States to pursue their immigration cases, straining some border cities where many migrants have recently arrived like El Paso, Texas.

Why did the supreme court rule on title 42? 

The CDC announced in April 2022 that it would end Title 42, saying it was no longer needed to limit the spread of Covid-19 in light of vaccines and other medical advances.

But a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the termination after a legal challenge brought by a group of two dozen US states with Republican attorneys general who argued that increased migration would saddle their states with costs.

In a separate lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups on behalf of migrant families who argue they were harmed by Title 42, a Washington, D.C.-based judge struck down Title 42 on Nov. 15.

The judge, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan, ruled Title 42 violated federal regulatory law but delayed the effective date of his decision until Dec. 21 to give authorities time to prepare.

Following the ruling, a coalition of US states with Republican attorneys general sought to intervene in the lawsuit to keep Title 42 in place, making their case at the US Supreme Court.

In arguments similar to those made in the Louisiana case, the states said that ending Title 42 would "cause an enormous disaster at the border" and leave them shouldering the cost of services for new arrivals.

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court ruled in December that the policy should stay in place as they consider the case.

Why is Biden expanding title 42? 

After the Supreme Court ruling, the Biden administration said it would start expelling Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians back to Mexico under Title 42, migrants who previously had been allowed into the United States to pursue their immigration cases.

The move builds on a policy launched in October that began expelling Venezuelans but at the same time allowed thousands of migrants from that country to enter by air if they applied from abroad and could demonstrate they had a US sponsor under a new "humanitarian parole" program.

Biden's plan would open that program to the additional nationalities and in total accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from the four countries combined. Those who have a US sponsor and meet certain requirements can apply to enter the country legally by air.

Previously, human rights groups and immigrant advocates have criticized expanding the nationalities that can be expelled under Title 42, which they say no longer has a basis in public health and continues to limit asylum access.

How does the parole program work, why these nationalities? 

The humanitarian entry for Venezuelans, and now Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians, will operate similarly to one created following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine that allows Ukrainians with US sponsors to enter and temporarily stay in the United States by applying from outside the country.

Tense diplomatic relations between the United States and the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have complicated deportations to those countries.

Deportation, under a statute known as Title 8, is a more formal and drawn out process that can lead to long bars on US re-entry as compared to expulsions that can take just hours under Title 42 and leave no deportation record.

Haiti has accepted deportees and migrants expelled under Title 42, but US lawmakers and advocates have criticized the Biden administration for returning people to a country beset by political violence and instability.

Top News / World+Biz

US / US migration / Title 42

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Representational image
    In addition to 35% tariff, US demands 40% local value addition for 'Made in Bangladesh' goods
  • Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
    Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
  • Photo: Courtesy
    4 arrested, 2 remanded over brutal killing of trader near Mitford Hospital

MOST VIEWED

  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: Girls dominate boys by over 5%
  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • The overall pass rate across all boards this year, 68.45%, is significantly lower than last year's. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SSC 2025: Rajshahi board records highest pass rate, Barishal lowest
  • How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit
    How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit
  • Representational image. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: 73.63% pass rate among technical students, 68.09% at Madrasahs
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case

Related News

  • 35% tariff: Bangladesh, US 'reach general consensus on some issues' on second day of talks; final round today
  • US remains Bangladesh’s top export destination
  • Trump's tariffs: What's in effect and what could be in store?
  • Tariffs drive US clothing imports from China to 22-year low in May
  • US wants easier access for military equipment, LNG, wheat, cotton imports: Commerce secretary

Features

Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

9h | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

1d | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1d | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

7h | TBS Today
All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

7h | TBS World
Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

9h | TBS World
Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

10h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net