‘Chaos on top of a crisis’? Congress debates ending Title 42.

Some 1,700 miles away from the Rio Grande, where Spc. Bishop Evans drowned trying to save migrants crossing into the United States last week, members of Congress opened a Homeland Security hearing Wednesday by mourning his loss. 

But they disagreed about what his death symbolized. To Democrats, the Texas National Guard member’s sacrifice exemplified the humanity they’ve striven to restore after Trump-era immigration policies that Chairman Bennie Thompson called “a national disgrace.” To Republicans, it was a sign of how ineffective and imbalanced U.S. border policy has become, prioritizing the lives of migrants attempting to cross the border illegally over those tasked with securing it. 

The border debate has taken on new urgency with the Biden administration’s decision to end next month a Trump-era deportation tool called Title 42. Despite clear differences in how the parties view the issue, a number of Democrats – many