US ending program that allowed for swift migrant removals during pandemic

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US will end in late May a controversial pandemic-era program that led to the rapid expulsions of nearly 2 million migrants and asylum seekers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Friday.

Title 42 will be lifted on May 23, and the Biden administration will continue to enforce it until that date. Some 1.7 million people are estimated to have been removed in the two years since President Donald Trump introduced the program in 2020 in a bid to thwart the spread of the virus.

US authorities are using the time until the program is terminated to increase its COVID-19 vaccinations program for migrants, and to prepare for the return to pre-pandemic migration, the CDC said in a statement.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky determined that the program is "no longer necessary" given the availability of vaccines and therapeutics​​​​​​​ to combat COVID-19, and the current public health environment, the agency said.

The Department of Homeland Security will begin to implement "additional COVID-19 mitigation procedures" with the CDC's aid, it added.

"These measures, along with the current public health landscape where 97.1% of the U.S. population lives in a county identified as having 'low' COVID-19 Community Level, will sufficiently mitigate the COVID-19 risk for U.S. communities," it said.

US President Joe Biden last extended Title 42 in August as the Delta variant swept across the US. The program and Biden's decision were met with stiff criticism from migrant rights groups who allege it is a violation of US and international law.