In the span of just nine days, Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat, has taken several different positions on Title 42 — a public health-related immigration provision that allows expedited deportation for illegal immigrants who enter the country.
The Texas Democrat’s latest stance is that the policy should be eliminated, despite the fact that members of the Biden administration are warning that the U.S. will see as many as 18,000 illegal aliens attempt to enter the country per day if it is rescinded.
On Sunday, O’Rourke told MSNBC that Title 42 never should have been enacted in the first place.
“I think it’s time to end Title 42. I don’t think we should have ever implemented it. It’s a very cynical reading of U.S. law,” O’Rourke told host Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show.”
After that comment, Republican communications strategist Matt Whitlock pointed out, “In a period of 9 days, @BetoORourke has taken 3 positions on Biden ending Title 42.”
In a period of 9 days, @BetoORourke has taken 3 positions on Biden ending Title 42:
April 8: Title 42 is bad, creating chaos
April 13: Biden is bad for ending title 42
April 17: I think it’s time to end Title 42 pic.twitter.com/sE1vM5VrQD
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 18, 2022
On April 8, O’Rourke stated that Title 42 was “creating chaos” and should be ended by President Joe Biden.
“Caught up with [Beto O’Rourke] today in San Antonio about the end of Title 42, which he’s called for,” Patrick Svitek of The Texas Tribune tweeted. “He reiterated his argument/reasoning that ‘beyond not being honest to the law,’ Title 42 is ‘creating more chaos at the border’ by leading to more repeat crossing attempts.”
Just four days later, in an interview with the Tribune, O’Rourke backtracked and argued instead that the Biden team should not end the policy right now.
“It does not make sense to end this until there is a real plan and the capacity in place to handle those and address those that come over,” O’Rourke told the Tribune on Tuesday. “I have yet to hear a plan from the Biden administration to address the dynamic we will have on the border once Title 42 ends.”
On Friday, the failed-presidential candidate added, “Title 42 is bad policy,” before claiming, “But we must end Title 42, we must do that responsibly, and the Biden administration must step up by meeting with these border communities and working with them to make sure that we do that.”
As summarized by Whitlock, O’Rourke’s strategy appears to be, “if you take EVERY position it’s hard to attack you for taking BAD positions.”
The @BetoORourke strategy: if you take EVERY position it’s hard to attack you for taking BAD positions pic.twitter.com/IXPMEhJkPf
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 18, 2022
Title 42, which was enacted under President Donald Trump at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been monumental in deporting illegal immigrants out of the country during the nation’s worst immigration crisis in decades. On Saturday, The Daily Wire reported that in March, at least 221,000 illegal aliens attempted to enter the country. Fox News’ Bill Melugin added that 109,549 of those illegal aliens were expelled via Title 42.
If O’Rourke’s latest desire for the policy occurs, Americans can expect to see a “tsunami” of illegal aliens into the U.S. that will “keep coming and coming and coming,” as former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott told The Daily Wire in an interview.