Fearing a massive illegal immigration wave into Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema D and Mark Kelly D pen a letter to Biden warning him not to end Title 42 without proper planning in place.
Democrats are generally pro open border and mass amnesty for the simple reason that the type of migrants that come over the Southern border tend to favor Democrats by margins of around 3:1. Some shortsighted Republicans also favor mass illegal immigration over the Southern border, apparently oblivious to the fact that in states such as California this phenomenon has relegated them to a permanent minority party.
Sinema's and Kelly's letter to Biden carries no legal power and doesn't constitute a vote. It may hence simply serve as a ruse to trick some Republicans into voting for them. Kelly will be on the ballot in the 2022 mid terms. An Arizona Republican primary to nominate a challenger for Kelly is currently ongoing. Both Democratic Senators prevailed over hapless Republican Martha McSally. McSally lost to Sinema in the 2018 election to fill the seat vacated by the death of John McCain. After losing this race, McSally was appointed by Governor Doug Ducey R to the seat vacated by the retirement of Republican Jeff Flake, who is currently Joe Biden's ambassador in Turkey. When she had to actually run for this seat in the 2020 election, she lost again, this time as an incumbent, to Mark Kelly. She underperformed then President Trump who was on the ballot for President at the same time.
Title 42 allows US Border Patrol to expel migrants based on public health grounds. Since March 2020, when Title 42 was instituted, around 1.7 Million migrants were expelled from the US based on Title 42. Although the Biden administration continues its support for vaccine and mask mandates for Americans, it apparently considers migrants as superior and wants to let them into the country even if they present a danger to public health.
Arizona as a border state is one of the most burdened by illegal immigration over the nearly completely open Southern Border. Former President Trump had worked to put barriers in place to secure the border. In a series of executive actions his successor Joe Biden has essentially rolled out the welcome mat to illegal immigrants.
In their letter to Biden, Senators Sinema and Kelly, both Democrats, write:
We write to you to express great concern about the lack of a specific plan from your Administration with respect to potential changes to the Title 42 Public Health authority, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relied on at the border during the coronavirus pandemic. Given the impacts that changes to Title 42 could have on border communities, border security, and migrants, we urge your Administration not to make any changes to Title 42 implementation until you are completely ready to execute and coordinate a comprehensive plan that ensures a secure, orderly, and humane process at the border. We also request that you provide a full briefing to Congress on your plan before implementation and execution…
Last month alone, CBP expelled 91,513 migrants under Title 42, and processed 73,460 individuals under Title 8.1 The January figures are comparable, showing only a slight trend upward on the number of expulsions. Of those encounters, nearly thirty percent occurred in Arizona.2 A sharp end to Title 42 without a comprehensive plan in motion would significantly increase the strain on DHS, border communities, and local nonprofits that are already near or at capacity.