Podcast Summary:

It Could Happen Here – CZM Rewind: Title 42: How a Public Health Law Kills Refugees
Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts | October 14, 2025

Overview

This episode critically examines “Title 42,” a US public health law originally intended to control infectious disease, but which, since 2020, was repurposed to summarily expel refugees and asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. Host Robert Evans (with insights from border reporters, advocates, and migrants) traces its historical roots, political evolution through the Trump and Biden administrations, and devastating human consequences. As Title 42 officially ended in May 2023, the episode explores the gap between political rhetoric and on-the-ground realities, the bipartisan nature of the policy, and the ongoing struggles for asylum seekers.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. History and Legal Foundation of Title 42

• Origin: Title 42 is a seldom-invoked section of the 1944 US Public Health Service Act allowing for suspension of entry of people into the US amid communicable disease threats.
  • [02:00] “It’s the part of US federal law that gives the government the authority to take emergency action to keep communicable diseases out of the country.” —Robert Evans
• Prior Use: Before 2020, only used once in 1929 (to block ships from China and the Philippines during a meningitis outbreak).

2. Title 42 under Trump and Biden

• Trump Administration Implementation:
  • Invoked in March 2020 at the start of COVID-19 to block asylum seekers ("public health rationale").
  • CDC scientists reportedly opposed this, seeing little public health justification ([04:30]).
• Continuation and Expansion under Biden:
  • Biden kept Title 42 in place for longer than Trump—two years and four months vs. ten months ([06:00]).
  • Policies expanded to include more nationalities and replicated the same “expulsion” practices with little substantive change.

3. The Cruel Reality “On the Ground”

• Bureaucracy vs. Border:
  • Disconnect between policy as stated in DC and the lived experience at the border ([09:00]).
  • “Immigration law on the ground and immigration law in Washington D.C. are two very different things.” —Evans ([09:40])
• Forced Expulsions:
  • “People expelled are often driven by bus to the nearest port of entry, and told to walk back to Mexico, often without their luggage and other belongings.” —Evans ([10:50])
  • Story of found luggage, ID cards, children’s belongings littering the border region.

Memorable Moment: Border Walk and Abandoned Belongings

• “Just big piles of documents that proved who you were. The other thing we found were ladders… Apparently someone built a gazebo out of them.” —Paul, border reporter ([13:00])

4. Escalating Human Toll

• Migrant Deaths:
  • 2020: 247 bodies found
  • 2021: 546
  • 2022: 857 deaths ([19:00])
  • “None of those people were guilty of any crime other than wanting a better life. But under Title 42, they lost their lives because the US didn’t give them a safe way to exercise a human right to claim asylum.” —Evans
• Testimony from Advocates and Migrants:
  • Advocates like Humayra Yousefi report hundreds injured, needing shelter and legal services, forced into ever more dangerous crossings ([20:48]).
  • “We have had hundreds of cases of individuals who have gotten themselves injured.” —Humayra Yousefi, PANA ([21:30])
• Violence Against Expelled Migrants:
  • Over 13,000 incidents of violence, kidnappings, rape, and torture reported against people pushed back into Mexico by this policy ([22:00]).

Notable Quote:

• “We aren’t bad people. Our goal is to work and get ahead in the world for our children. We don’t want to go back. They will kill us.” —Daniel, Haitian asylum seeker ([26:20])

5. The Politics and Media Optics

• Bipartisanship:
  • “The use of Title 42 has been, despite the relative lack of outrage since the Biden administration took office, bipartisan.” ([24:10])
• Media Spectacle and Misinformation:
  • FOX News coverage stokes fears with dramatic border crossings ([34:00]).
  • Apprehension numbers are inflated by repeat crossings, a direct result of Title 42’s “expel and try again” cycle.
• Selective Compassion:
  • Ukrainians and Russians receive expedited entry and are largely exempt from Title 42 expulsions, while Black and brown migrants are blocked ([39:00]).

6. Failures of Tech and ‘Humane’ Solutions

• CBP1 App:
  • “The CBP1 app rewards people with the best phones, not necessarily people who are most vulnerable… They call it the Ticketmaster of asylum. And that’s not a compliment. Ticketmaster fucking sucks. Nobody likes it.” —Gustavo Solis, KPBS ([42:55])
  • Technical and systematic racism built into the facial recognition and accessibility for the most marginalized ([44:30]).

7. The End of Title 42 – Legal Complications and Ongoing Policy Gaps

• Why did Title 42 end?
  • Legal challenges from courts, both Republican-led states trying to keep it, and others finding it unlawful ([50:00]).
  • Ultimately expired May 11, 2023, with end of federal COVID emergency.
• What Follows?
  • Return to Title 8: rapid deportation, additional hurdles for asylum claims ([53:20]).
  • “Despite this, and having almost three years to repair, they were by no means ready.” ([55:00])
• Lack of Preparation:
  • “I went to Tijuana to talk to the head of the Department of Migrant Affairs there, who… still to this day, less than 48 hours before Title 42 ends, he doesn’t know how many migrants CBP will allow to cross through the ports of entry.” —Gustavo Solis ([56:10])

8. Rhetoric vs. Reality

• Administration Language:
  • Secretary Mayorkas reiterates “our borders are not open” even as mass expulsions and ad hoc releases into US communities continue ([60:00]).
• Conditions at the Border:
  • Even with months of warning, migrants found themselves living between fences, under tarps and cardboard, while DHS and CBP provided “not so much as a scrap of shade or shelter.” ([65:00])

Notable Quotes & Moments (Selected Timestamps)

• [02:00] “It’s the part of US federal law that gives the government the authority to take emergency action to keep communicable diseases out of the country.” —Robert Evans
• [10:50] “People expelled are often driven by bus to the nearest port of entry, and told to walk back to Mexico, often without their luggage and other belongings.” —Evans
• [13:00] “Just big piles of documents that proved who you were. The other thing we found were ladders… Apparently someone built a gazebo out of them.” —Paul
• [19:00] “None of those people were guilty of any crime other than wanting a better life. But under Title 42, they lost their lives because the US didn’t give them a safe way to exercise a human right to claim asylum.” —Evans
• [20:48] “Hundreds of cases of individuals who have gotten themselves injured.” —Humayra Yousefi
• [26:20] “We aren’t bad people. Our goal is to work and get ahead in the world for our children. We don’t want to go back. They will kill us.” —Daniel, asylum seeker
• [42:55] “They call it the Ticketmaster of asylum. And that’s not a compliment.” —Gustavo Solis
• [55:00] “Despite this, and having almost three years to repair, they were by no means ready.” —Evans
• [56:10] “Still to this day, less than 48 hours before Title 42 ends, he doesn’t know how many migrants CBP will allow to cross through the ports of entry.” —Gustavo Solis

Conclusion

The episode delivers a sweeping, deeply informed critique of Title 42 and the bipartisan failures underlying its implementation. Through personal stories, sharp policy analysis, and first-hand reporting, Evans and guests illuminate the cost in human life, the hypocrisy of public health justifications, and how real solutions remain hampered by bureaucracy, politics, and cruelty. As Title 42 comes to an end, the episode closes with the sobering truth that meaningful reform remains elusive, and that, for many migrants, the struggle and suffering at the US border continues unabated.