AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas National Guard is currently performing drills in order to prepare for a "possible immigration flux", according to Gov. Abbott.
The Texas governor said this move will ensure border security following the end of Title 42.
Title 42, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, was a policy that temporarily prohibited migration or immigration, citing a public health crisis.
The policy was officially revoked on April 1 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, citing dropping COVID-19 rates nationwide.
It had been enacted by the Trump administration during the earlier years of the pandemic.
Legally, it allowed the removal of most undocumented immigrants, including those seeking asylum from persecution, dangerous conditions such as war, and other qualifying situations.
While some asylum seekers come from Central and South America, recent demographics also include Haitians from the Caribbean.
Fleeing political instability, its citizens are still recovering from a recent earthquake and the assassination of their president last summer.
Haiti currently has the highest level of asylum denial despite these recent conditions, according to NPR.
However, the repeal of this policy-in-action will now allow those who've sought refuge to claim asylum in the U.S. and possibly gain the status of refugee.
The announcement has been praised by some and condemned by others, including Abbott.
In turn, the governor's move to prepare the National Guard falls in line with the Texas Department of Public Safety's Operation Lone Star.
A directive implemented to prevent both people and illicit substances from possibly crossing the border.
It's also been used to deploy National Guard troops to protect famous and wealthy ranches; a practice that caught public attention due to its $2 billion a year cost.
Since then, Abbott has announced that his administration will be chartering buses to D.C. as an additional means to address immigration.
Immigration reform advocates have since criticized this move.
Claiming it had a "heinous, unconstitutional, and outrageous nature," according to Kate Huddleston, staff attorney with the ACLU of Texas.
The organization also praised the end of Title 42, calling it a "guise of public health."
Adding in part, it denied people their right to seek asylum and "expelled them without any due process."
