US preps for even busier border amid lifting of health order

By BEN FOX
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has released a plan to deal with an increase in already historic numbers of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. That’s due to the lifting of a public health order that has kept people from seeking asylum — and that Republican and some Democratic lawmakers say should be kept in place. A memo from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas outlines an effort to enforce U.S. immigration laws that were in place before Title 42 was invoked at the start of the pandemic in 2020. The plan includes increasing the number of personnel in the border region from Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies and expanding detention capacity.