The Centers for Disease Control order was implemented in March 2020 by the Trump administration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and allows for the rapid removal of migrants at the southern border. It has been mostly kept in place by the Biden administration, but last week the CDC announced it will be lifted in May, raising immediate concerns about it sparking a new surge in migrants.
Demings said that the order was implemented as COVID-19 numbers were increasing and said that"it makes sense that, if it was imposed with the excuse that we were watching the COVID numbers that were out control, then if we’re still watching the numbers and I know we are all in all communities that it would be lifted when COVID is more under control."
July 29, 2020: file photo, Rep. Val Demings, D, Fla., speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington."So, there, I support the lifting of it because the COVID numbers have gone way down, because we’ve done the responsible thing, we’ve gotten our vaccinations and our boosters," she said in video of the event seen by Fox News, adding that she would be double boosted by the end of the week.
Demings’ said she had spoken with Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who she said told lawmakers that the border can accommodate about 3,500 people a day but are currently processing around 7,000. She emphasized the question of staffing at the border.