If Title 42 lifts, NBC News noted, DHS believes it could see hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers at the border, easily surpassing the record-breaking numbers of migrants seen over the summer.
“On a call this week with senior Department of Homeland Security officials, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asked whether the department was prepared for a worst-case scenario in which 350,000 to 400,000 migrants cross the border in October, according to two DHS officials familiar with the conversation,” NBC News reported. “The two DHS officials stressed that the estimate is not based on internal intelligence or calculations, saying it is meant to prepare the agency for what could be an overwhelming number of migrants who cross if a court order that lifts the Covid restriction, known as Title 42, takes effect at the end of the week, as is possible.”
