(NewsNation) — Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas met with Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas Tuesday just days before Title 42 is expected to expire.
During his trip to the nation’s busiest border crossing, Mayorkas said his department is prepared to handle a number of different scenarios it may encounter when Title 42 expires Monday.
Mayorkas emphasized that if Title 42 expires, it’s not suddenly “open season” down on the U.S.-Mexico border. But Republicans beg to differ.
“We continue to enforce the laws of this country,” Mayorkas said. “We continue to remove individuals who do not qualify for relief under the laws of this country.”
Mayorkas laid out a six-point plan for what the Biden administration will do if Title 42 is lifted: “We are surging resources to the southwest border. We are improving the efficiency of our processing. We are elevating the enforcement consequences that we are bringing to bear to those individuals who do not qualify for relief.”
For Republicans, immigration is a midterm election year gift that keeps on giving.
Republicans say Title 42 has resulted in nearly 2 million migrants being expelled. They predict dropping the statute will lead to more border disorder.
“This administration has taken a number of steps in the direction of just throwing our border wide open,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, left, listens to Deputy patrol agent in charge of the US Border Patrol Anthony Crane as he tours the section of the border wall Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Hidalgo, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, Pool) 
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tours a section of the border wall with Mexico, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Hidalgo, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, Pool) 
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, left, listens to Deputy patrol agent in charge of the US Border Patrol Anthony Crane as he tours the section of the border wall Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Hidalgo, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, Pool) 
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, second from right, looks up along with U.S Border Patrol agents as a drone flies overhead as he tours a section of the border wall Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Hidalgo, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, Pool) 
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas listens to Raul Ortiz, Chief, U.S. Border Patrol, as he tours the section of the border wall with Mexico, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in La Joya, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, Pool) 
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas listens as he tours the section of the border wall with Mexico, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in La Joya, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, Pool)
Sen. Ted Cruz believes that if Title 42 expires, America will “have an absolute crisis at the border.”
Mayorkas said Tuesday that illegal crossings could nearly triple in the coming weeks to 18,000 migrants a day, but even if Title 42 ends Monday, immigrants need to understand one thing: “That does not mean that the border is open beginning on May 23.”
More than 20 states are suing to keep the White House from lifting Title 42, and a federal judge in Louisiana is slated to make a ruling in the coming days.
