Title 42 explained: The obscure public health policy at the center of a US border fight

WASHINGTON — At the center of today’s most heated immigration debate is a decades-old health statute dusted off by the Trump administration that is reshaping U.S. policy at the border.

Citing the threat of COVID-19, the U.S. government has over the last year and a half carried out nearly 1.3 million expulsions of migrants at the border without offering them the opportunity to request asylum or other humanitarian protections. That policy — known as Title 42 for the section of the health statute where it originated — has been met with legal and political challenges, but it remains on the books.

And it’s one of the main reasons that border crossings are up. According to CBP data released Friday, there were 1.7 million people detained at the Southwest border during fiscal year 2021, which ended Sept. 31. This year marked the largest annual total for apprehensions in Border Patrol history. That’s in part because the nature of the rapid Title 42 expulsions make it easier for people to try to immediately cross again.

Here’s why Title 42 matters, and what you need