CARSON CITY – Gov. Steve Sisolak this week sent a letter to the Biden administration asking for a reconsideration of the rollback of Title 42 without a detailed plan in place. He’s among a bipartisan group of governors from across the states that have expressed concerns about the repeal.
Title 42 is part of a World War II public health law and was enacted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to keep migrants from crossing the border and potentially spreading the virus. It allows U.S. border officials to deport migrants arriving at the border, a move that the nation’s public health leaders said was necessary to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
Sisolak said that while he celebrated Nevada’s diversity – he created an Office for New Americans in 2019 – meaningful immigration reform and a solid plan for working with migrants arriving at the country’s southern border should come before a Title 42 repeal.
“Lifting Title 42 without a measured, comprehensive plan would create chaos at our border and make it more onerous for families attempting to immigrate legally,” the governor said. “Our country cannot undergo another humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
According to state data, Nevada is home to about 4,000 people with Temporary Protected Status, 12,000 Dreamers and more than 5,000 people impacted by a green card backlog.
Sisolak’s letter is on the diplomatic end of responses to Biden’s Title 42 announcement. Other states’ governors have threatened more overt actions, including busing migrants cross the border directly to Washington D.C.
