In the News

Democrats and Republicans are working together, for the first time in a long time, to extend the policies of Title 42, and representatives from North Carolina are leading the charge.

Congressmen Wiley Nickel (D) and Don Davis, along with Senator Thom Tillis, all from N.C., are working to extend Title 42 with bipartisan legislation in both the House and Senate.

Earlier this month, Tillis and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema introduced a bipartisan bill that mirrors the operations of Title 42, giving the Biden Administration two more years to expel migrants trying to get into the country illegally.

Both Democrats and Republicans cosponsor their bill.

Davis and Nickel are cosponsoring the same legislation, but on the House side, with HR 3234. Their bill “authorizes the immediate expulsion of inadmissible aliens attempting to enter the united states by fraud or without a necessary entry document, and for other purposes.”

Both democrats have said the end of Title 42 has put a strain on law enforcement and nonprofits. Nickel is hoping by the end of the two-year deadline; immigration reform will be put in place.

“Border security is incredibly important; we need to have strong border security. You know, this is that middle ground that we just don’t have enough of in Washington,” Nickel said. “But I also believe we need to have immigration reform. So these kinds of bipartisan efforts are very important to setting the stage for what we need to do, which is, you know, robust border security and immigration reform.”

Nickel is hopeful the bipartisan bill will do well in the House and the Senate if enough Democrats give it a chance.

But Eric Heberlig, a political science professor at UNC Charlotte, thinks Nickel and Davis have priorities beyond temporarily securing the border.

“I call it taking a position on a lightning rod issue when you’re in a competitive district. This is one way a highly salient issue that, you know, there are going to be constituents who feel strongly and are going to be paying attention,” Heberlig said. “And this issue is going to be in the news that you can show that you’re doing something as a way of defending yourself against the negative ads that are highly likely to occur.”