The Biden administration announced Friday it would be lifting a COVID-era border policy originally enacted under former President Donald Trump on May 23, CNBC reports.
The measure, known as Title 42, has allowed the U.S. to expeditiously expel migrants at the southern border without permitting them to seek asylum for reasons of public health. The CDC has governed both the measure and how long it's remained in place.
Well, what happens now that there's an end in sight? For starters, on a basic level, the U.S. will return to the traditional immigration protocols "that have been in place for decades," CNN notes.
But not everyone's happy. Though critics of the policy have welcomed its rollback, others are worried about a resulting influx of migrants at the border. In some scenarios, officials have estimated 12,000 to 18,000 migrants entering U.S. custody daily.
It's for those reasons that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) says he's none too pleased about the administration's decision, claiming it incites "violence and lawlessness."
"Texas must take even more unprecedented action to keep our communities safe by using any and all constitutional powers to protect its own territory," Abbott wrote in a statement.
With Abbott so vehemently opposed to the policy's end, is it possible Texas challenges the decision in court? BuzzFeed News immigration reporter Hamed Aleaziz says he "would not be surprised" if so.
Additionally, others are wondering how this decision might impact Democrats ahead of the midterms. Even though the White House is bringing about an end to a controversial policy, might Democrats' political "obliteration" be on its way?
But as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly said, Title 42 was never meant to be an immigration policy; rather, it was always a public health measure.