Manchin says he thinks Biden will ask for Title 42 extension

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Sunday that he believes President Biden will ask for an extension of the Title 42 immigration policy, as officials warn of chaos in border states if the policy ends this week.

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” moderator Margaret Brennan asked Manchin about the bipartisan letter he joined this week asking Biden to extend the Trump-era border management policy.

“The president needs to use every bit of power he has as an executive to find a way or ask for an extension. The president can basically, I think, ask for that extension. I think his administration is doing that or will do that. I sure hope they do. But we need an extension until we can get a viable answer for this,” Manchin told Brennan. 

Title 42 was implemented early in the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing officials to block migrants from seeking asylum claims in the U.S. under a public health emergency.

However, a federal judge rules last month that it must be repealed by Wednesday, spurring fears of a worsening crisis on the southern border.

Officials including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) have said lifting the policy will be disastrous for their states.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slammed the Biden administration on Sunday for failing to have another plan in place.

“They’ve made promises well over their skis on Title 42, now don’t know how to get out of it,” Christie said during a discussion on ABC’s “This Week.” “And if we’re looking at 14,000 to 18,000 people cross[ing] the border a day, there’s going to be mayhem down there.”

El Paso, Texas, is currently dealing with a surge of migrants, highlighting the coming difficulties in coping with an influx of asylum-seekers.

Manchin also said Sunday that Congress could pass legislation that keeps Title 42 in place, referring to the migrant situation as a “crisis.” 

“I guess that could be done. We’re going back in Monday,” Manchin said. “When you have a crisis, it seems like we can manage under a crisis in a bipartisan way. It’s a shame that we’ve come to this gridlock.”

The Hill reached out to the White House on Sunday about Biden’s Title 42 plans.