The Biden administration is bracing for a surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border when a Covid-era border restriction lifts next month, putting an issue that’s been a political vulnerability for President Joe Biden at the forefront just weeks off his 2024 campaign announcement.
On May 11, when the coronavirus public health emergency ends, a Covid-era border restriction, known as Title 42, will expire, meaning border authorities will no longer be able to quickly expel certain migrants. Instead, authorities will have to return to decades-old protocols at a time of unprecedented mass migration in the Western hemisphere, raising concerns within the administration about a surge in the immediate aftermath of Title 42 lifting.
It comes at a critical moment for Biden who on the heels of launching his 2024 bid will also have to navigate another potential border crisis, opening him up to attacks from Republicans who have hammered the administration and are already wielding the issue to counter the president in the upcoming election and allies who argue his enforcement measures are too harsh.
The handling of the US southern border has dogged Biden over the course of his presidency, starting with an influx of unaccompanied migrant children who caught his administration flatfooted and followed by images of thousands of primarily Haitian migrants gathered under a bridge along the Texas-Mexico border.
Behind the scenes, administration officials have been racing to set up new policies to stem the flow of migration, but even with those put in place, officials recognize that they could face an overwhelming number of people at the border who have been anticipating the end of Title 42, which has been the primary enforcement tool since 2020.
A senior Customs and Border Protection official told CNN that the agency estimates “several thousand” migrants are waiting in northern…
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