Trump admin seeks to reinstate Title 42 health code to prevent migrants from crossing border

President Donald Trump is looking to reinstate Title 42 in order to curb the number of immigrants crossing the southern border. The measure was first enacted at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic and was used to prevent immigrants from crossing with communicable diseases.

According to CBS News, the Trump administration's plan is to revive the measure, which former President Joe Biden's administration allowed to expire in 2023. Reviving the measure would strengthen the security of the border even further as Trump has pushed to crack down on security enforcement as well as the deportation of illegal immigrants.

In addition to this, Trump has ended catch and release for those who request asylum, instead implementing his remain in Mexico policy from his first term. CBS obtained internal files that indicate the CDC is planning to issue guidance stating that immigrants into the country without vetting are a public health risk. As the new administration has been taking action on the border, the number of illegal border crossings per day has dropped over 90 percent from a year ago, during Biden's last year in office.

The Trump administration has pointed to tuberculosis as a disease that would be prevented from coming into the country through implementing the measure. Theresa Cardinal Brown, an immigration official under both former President Barack Obama as well as George Bush, told the outlet, "It's clear that they're just sort of pulling out all the stops, and the goal is literally stopping people from entering the United States, not processing anybody under the immigration law."

Illegal immigration was a top issue among voters in the 2024 election, and many polls indicated that Americans believed that Trump would handle the issue of illegal immigration better than former Vice President Kamala Harris.