The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Administration officials on Thursday will detail a multi-pronged response, according to two people with direct knowledge of officials’ discussions. The White House is trying to strike a balance of deterrence with creating additional legal pathways.
Administration officials have been intensely planning for the end of Title 42 since before the New Year, weighing a patchwork of policy solutions. May, already the historically busiest month for migration, is expected to bring one of the greatest policy challenges yet for the White House. And the timing falls at a challenging political moment for President Joe Biden, who just launched his 2024 reelection campaign.
In place of Title 42, officials also plan to rely on a new rule that will bar some migrants from applying for asylum in the U.S. if they cross the border illegally or fail to first apply for safe harbor in another country. The administration has been working to finalize and implement the rule — a version of a Trump-era policy often called the “transit ban” — before May 11.
The administration will also lean on expedited removal processes under Title 8, which would allow the government to remove from the country anyone unable to establish a legal basis — such as an approved asylum claim.
Deterrence measures will be paired with efforts to expand legal pathways and expedite processing. The Biden administration is also expected to detail its efforts to expand refugee resettlement in the hemisphere, a former administration official told POLITICO.
