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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement on the expiring of Title 42, a Trump-era COVID-19 policy intended to protect public health that expedited the expulsion of migrants illegally crossing the southern border, circumventing the standard screening given to those who enter legally.

“Cartels are the only ones benefiting from the crisis at our southern border. They are flooding fentanyl into the country and profiting off of the exploitation of migrants,” said Dr. Cassidy. “President Biden ending Title 42 increases the strain at the border while putting communities and migrants at greater risk.”

Following President Biden’s 2021 executive order exempting minors from Title 42, the number of unaccompanied migrant children entering the United States climbed to a record high of 130,000 in 2022. Many of these children have reportedly been coerced by adults into working instead of attending school, engaging in dangerous labor that has led to serious injuries such as dismemberment and shattered bones. Last month, Cassidy demanded answers from Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Secretary Julie Su after reports indicating that senior DOL officials repeatedly downplayed the exploitation of migrant children for cheap labor.