Local immigration lawyer weighs in on Title 42 expiration

SALISBURY, Md – With Title 42 Emergency covid measure expiring at the US border, local Immigration Attorney Eduardo Gonzalez says the time it takes to process cases will only increase, backing up an already overburdened immigration system.

“I have cases that can be a 3,4-year weight as long as even 8 years, and what this does is double the turnaround on immigration cases, and they can be fought from the US side whereas before people were removed and processed much quicker,” Gonzalez said.

He says despite a push for more summary judgment decisions, there is still a substantial lack of judges.

“They would need to hire tens of thousands of judges to meet this demand he says, and they just do not have the budget for that,” he said.

Gonzales tells us for his practice, he sees a lot of asylum cases, and the rules regarding those have changed as well, requiring them to apply for asylum in countries along the way to the US border, a practice he says could impact immigrants from places like Honduras and El Salvador.

“Now they are going to have to explain why they didn’t request asylum in Mexico for example and that can be used against them as a court can say well you didn’t bother to apply for asylum why should we process you here,” he said.

Gonzalez tells us in his experience many of the asylum seekers he works with are fleeing gang violence in Honduras or Ecuador- he says those same conditions exist in Mexico which is why many migrants don’t apply for it, making the change another hurdle for those seeking legal asylum.

He tells us the reverted rules also give extra authority to ICE agents in any US territory within 100 miles of a border or the ocean which includes Delmarva.