December 21, 2022

President Joseph R. Biden

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden,

We must protect American citizens and we must work to secure the Southern Border. As you
know, the Title 42 order at our Southern Border was set to expire on December 21.1 However,
the Supreme Court’s recent stay has delayed the end of Title 42.2 The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Title 42 order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 under
President Trump’s leadership.3 This order allowed illegal immigrants to be immediately expelled
in order to protect American citizens. We write to you today deeply concerned that your
Administration is not prepared for Title 42 to end even with the recent delay.

There have been nearly a half-million encounters at the Southern Border since October, which is
outpacing FY 2022 and substantially outpacing FY 2021 where there were just over 216,000
encounters in the same period.4 Undoubtedly, there is a crisis at our Southern Border. It has been
reported that U.S. officials are privately bracing for a massive influx of more than 170,000 illegal
immigrants at the Southern Border likely before the calendar year ends with the termination of
Title 42.5 In May of this year Secretary Mayorkas even stated that he anticipated as many as

1 Shoichet, Catherine. (2022, November 16). What is Title 42, and what happens now that a federal judge has

blocked it? CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/politics/title-42-blocked-whats-next-explainer-cec/index.html

2
Rose, Joel. (2022, December 19). U.S. Supreme Court Extends Border Restrictions Just Before They Were Set to
End. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/19/1143470161/supreme-court-title-42-stay-migrants-asylum-immigration-
venezuela
3 Order Suspending the Right to Introduce Certain Persons From Countries Where a Quarantinable Communicable

Disease Exist published by Center for Disease Control (March 3, 2020). https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
ncov/downloads/CDC-Order-Suspending-Right-to-Introduce-_Final_8-2-21.pdf
4 Shaw, A., Melugin, B., & Jenkins, G. (2022, December 10). Border officials seeing massive migrant numbers,

large groups ahead of Title 42’s end. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/border-officials-seeing-massive-

migrant-numbers-large-groups-ahead-title-42s-end
5 Swan, J., Knight S. W. (2022, March 17). Scoop: Biden officials fear “mass migration event” if COVID policies

end. Axios. https://www.axios.com/2022/03/17/biden-border-mexico-migrants-title-42

18,000 illegal crossings per a day after Title 42 ended.6 We have witnessed in recent days a sharp
influx of illegal migrants with the news of this order ending– and this is just a glimpse of the
influx that is coming after Title 42 ends. Your own Administration even requested a delay to
give them five weeks to comply with the order, showing that your Administration is not prepared
for the end of Title 42. Even with the Supreme Court’s recent temporary stay, it is imperative
that your Administration be prepared if Title 42 ends.

Given our grave concern, we respectfully request a response to the following questions by
December 27, 2022:

1. If the recent Supreme Court stay is lifted and Title 42 ends, do you have a comprehensive
plan that outlines how your Administration will maintain control of the Southern Border?
2. If you have a plan, we request a copy be provided to us of your comprehensive plan to
maintain control of the Southern Border.
3. Are any other agencies or departments going to be sending agents to the Southern
Border? What agencies, and how many personnel? And what is the estimated increased
cost of these assignments?
4. What is your estimate of the number of unaccompanied children who will be subject to
human trafficking because of the influx of crossings at the Southern Border?
5. Since January 20, 2021, how many illegal migrants have crossed the Southern Border
with a communicable disease? Please list the disease and country of origin. How many
illegal immigrants with a communicable disease do you anticipate to cross the Southern
Border once Title 42 ends?
6. In FY 2022, at least 98 people on the terrorist watchlist have illegally crossed our border
that we know of. How many illegal migrants on the terrorist watchlist do you anticipate
to cross the Southern Border once Title 42 ends?

Sincerely,

Andrew S. Clyde Andy Biggs

Member of Congress Member of Congress

6Olafimihan O. (2022, May 1). DHS preparing for as many as 18,000 migrants per day after lifting of Title 42,
Mayorkas says. The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/3472980-dhs-preparing-foras-many-as-
18000-migrants-per-day-after-lifting-of-title-42-mayorkas-says/.
Mike Kelly Randy K. Weber
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Debbie Lesko Jefferson Van Drew, D.M.D.

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Michael Waltz Dan Bishop

Member of Congress Member of Congress

John R. Moolenaar Michael Guest

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Jody B. Hice Diana Harshbarger

Member of Congress Member of Congress
Andy Harris, M.D. Pete Stauber
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Ralph Norman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S.

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Brian Mast Barry Moore

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Yvette Herrell Scott DesJarlais, M.D.

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Clay Higgins Marjorie Taylor Greene

Member of Congress Member of Congress
Bob Good Doug Lamborn
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Scott Perry David P. Joyce

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Russ Fulcher Guy Reschenthaler

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Rick Crawford Claudia Tenney

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Michael Cloud
Member of Congress