NASHVILLE, TN—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) today released the following statement after a Judge blocked the Biden Administration from lifting Title 42 authority—a successful Trump-era border security policy that allowed quick removal of more than 1,000,000 illegal border crossers during Fiscal Year 2021 alone:
“Once again, the American people have a federal judge to thank for preventing the Biden Administration from making a self-inflicted crisis even worse. When I visited the border last month and spoke with Border Patrol Agents, they told me that Title 42 authority is the last tool left to keep this already record-breaking crisis from becoming catastrophically worse and more dangerous. They also told me that Administration policy is what’s fueling this crisis: If American immigration policy is weak and migrants know they won’t be turned away even if they come illegally, then that encourages them to come. Thankfully, despite the Biden Administration’s best efforts, a judge has ensured that Title 42 will remain in place for now. But Congress should take more permanent action by enacting my legislation to expand Title 42 authority as necessary to stop the enormous illegal drug trafficking happening at the border, which killed more than 100,000 Americans last year—also a record.”
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