Sinema Rips Biden Over Title 42: President 'Had Two Years to Prepare'

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema on Sunday slammed the Biden administration's response to Title 42 ending, saying her state will "bear the brunt" of an influx of illegal border crossings after the pandemic-era rule ceases on Thursday.

Immigration policy is a key issue for Sinema, who recently switched her affiliation from Democrat to independent and is reportedly mulling a reelection bid in 2024. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently rejected a bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Sinema, that would have extended Title 42 for two more years as the United States prepares for an anticipated spike of migrants following the rule's expiration. The public health order's end has been drawing backlash from Republicans and a growing number of Democrats who have cautioned that chaos would ensue without it.

Former President Donald Trump initially invoked Title 42 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, allowing authorities to expel migrants from the U.S. without undergoing a formal asylum process. Following months of legal battles, the Biden administration opted to let the controversial restriction expire on May 11, saying that it should not be used as a means of immigration enforcement. Lawmakers in border cities, such as Sinema, have been vocal critics of Biden's response.

CBS News' Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan spoke with Sinema about the border crisis in an interview that aired on Sunday. During the talk, Sinema criticized the White House for its inaction on the issue.

"The Biden administration had two years to prepare for this and did not do so," Sinema said. "And our state is going to bear the brunt, and migrants will be in crisis as soon as next week. It will be a humanitarian crisis because we are not prepared."

Newsweek reached out via email to representatives for Biden and Sinema for comment.

The senator told Brennan that the Department of Homeland Security and the federal government have yet to share information with her or border-town officials regarding what to expect after the end of Title 42.

"What's unfortunate is that I'm asking for that information, and I'm not getting it. So either the administration has that information and they're choosing not to share it, which is a problem since we're the ones that are going to deal with the crisis, or they don't have it and that's even more concerning because how do you prepare for an inflow of migrants when you don't know what you're going to expect?" Sinema said.

Sinema, who was born and raised in southern Arizona, said many border communities do not have the infrastructure to manage the influx.

Biden received a wave of criticism on social media on Tuesday after the White House announced that it would be deploying 1,500 troops to the southern border ahead of Title 42's expiration. Sinema said the pledge of troops is "aspirational" not "operational," adding that the government should instead focus on renting busses to transport migrants and building processing facilities to keep up with demand.

Biden has faced bipartisan backlash over the large number of migrants who have tried to enter at the southern border during his term. Illegal border crossings were nearly three times higher under Biden than they were under Trump, the Border Patrol reported in 2022.