allow U.S. border agents to rapidly expel migrants to Mexico or their home countries on public health grounds, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled Friday.
Judge Robert Summerhays of the U.S. District Court in Lafayette, Louisiana, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration from ending the restrictions, known as Title 42, on May 23, when the CDC had planned to stop authorizing the border expulsions.
Agreeing with arguments presented by Republican attorneys general who sued the Biden administration, Summerhays, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said the CDC had improperly terminated Title 42, a public health authority enacted during World War II.
Summerhays' ruling will require the CDC to continue authorizing the border expulsions for some time, since the notice-and-comment process for federal regulations typically takes months to complete.
Since March 2020, migrants have been expelled more than 1.9 million times from the U.S.-Mexico border under Title 42, which denies them an opportunity to request asylum, a right guaranteed by U.S. law and international refugee treaty, government figures show.
The Trump administration argued that Title 42 allows the U.S. to suspend these legal humanitarian obligations during a global pandemic, saying the expulsions of migrants and asylum-seekers were necessary to control the spread of COVID-19 inside border facilities.
The Biden administration employed the same argument for over a year, using Title 42 longer and more often than the Trump administration, carrying out over 1.4 million migrant expulsions, according to an analysis of U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP) data.
Friday's ruling is a victory for more than 20 states led by Republican attorneys general in Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri who filed the lawsuit challenging the CDC's decision to terminate Title 42.
The coalition of states argued that an expected increase in the number of migrants being released from U.S. border custody upon Title 42 being halted would harm them financially, citing educational and other social services costs.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/title-42-migrant-expulsion-covid-19-to-stay-in-place-judge-rules/
Judge Robert Summerhays of the U.S. District Court in Lafayette, Louisiana, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration from ending the restrictions, known as Title 42, on May 23, when the CDC had planned to stop authorizing the border expulsions.
Agreeing with arguments presented by Republican attorneys general who sued the Biden administration, Summerhays, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said the CDC had improperly terminated Title 42, a public health authority enacted during World War II.
Summerhays' ruling will require the CDC to continue authorizing the border expulsions for some time, since the notice-and-comment process for federal regulations typically takes months to complete.
Since March 2020, migrants have been expelled more than 1.9 million times from the U.S.-Mexico border under Title 42, which denies them an opportunity to request asylum, a right guaranteed by U.S. law and international refugee treaty, government figures show.
The Trump administration argued that Title 42 allows the U.S. to suspend these legal humanitarian obligations during a global pandemic, saying the expulsions of migrants and asylum-seekers were necessary to control the spread of COVID-19 inside border facilities.
The Biden administration employed the same argument for over a year, using Title 42 longer and more often than the Trump administration, carrying out over 1.4 million migrant expulsions, according to an analysis of U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP) data.
Friday's ruling is a victory for more than 20 states led by Republican attorneys general in Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri who filed the lawsuit challenging the CDC's decision to terminate Title 42.
The coalition of states argued that an expected increase in the number of migrants being released from U.S. border custody upon Title 42 being halted would harm them financially, citing educational and other social services costs.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/title-42-migrant-expulsion-covid-19-to-stay-in-place-judge-rules/
