Title 42 Expires Soon, but the U.S. Court Denies Keeping COVID-19 Asylum Restrictions

Title 42 restrictions, which have prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the United States in recent years, are still set to expire in a matter of days following a ruling by a U.S. court on Friday. This is amid the thousands more migrants filling shelters on the Mexican side of the U.S. border.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal's decision means Title 42's restrictions will be eliminated as planned on Wednesday, barring further appeals.

The Associated Press News reported that some 19 states with Republican majorities were lobbying for Trump's asylum limits during the coronavirus crisis.

Since March 2020, when the threat of COVID-19 was first identified, 2.5 million asylum-seekers have been turned away despite their legal rights under U.S. and international law.

Due to concerns about their health, some migrants are forced to wait it out in Mexico.

Immigrant rights groups filed to have Title 42 nullified because, by using it, the United States was betraying its historical and moral obligation to provide asylum to persons fleeing persecution wherever in the world, claiming that Trump used the restrictions as an excuse to limit immigration. The groups also argued that Title 42's rationale is now irrelevant due to the availability of vaccines and other remedies.

A judge ruled in their favor last month and gave the administration until December 21 to halt the practice.

Conservative states that want to preserve Title 42 have been lobbying to intervene in the case and postpone the relaxation of the restrictions put in place during the outbreak.

However, a three-judge panel ruled against the states on Friday night, finding that they had waited too long to try to interfere in the case.

The state's top lawyer has already announced his displeasure with the ruling and promised to take the matter to the Supreme Court.

Migrants Influx Might Grow Following the Cancelation of COVID-19 Asylum Restrictions

A court document from the Justice Department that was made public on Friday indicated that the number of illegal border crossings by individuals traveling alone decreased in November, right before the deadline. However, the papers did not explain why, said ABC 13.

It also needed to account for families traveling with small children or children traveling alone.

The Biden administration fears that removing the COVID-19 asylum limits will increase the already high number of migrants passing through El Paso, Texas, and other border communities every day.

Tijuana is the largest border city in Mexico. This week, Enrique Lucero, the city's head of migrant affairs, said that over thirty shelters house more than five thousand individuals.

About 300 migrants, mostly families, slept on bunk beds and the floor at the Casa del Migrante near McAllen, Texas, in Reynosa, Mexico.

Title 42 Is Not Fair to Some Latin Americans

Title 42, part of a public health statute passed in 1944, applies to people of all nationalities. Still, it has been unfairly used to people from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and most recently, Venezuela, who Mexico agrees to accept back.

KATU 2 noted that Border Patrol agents stopped a total of 143,903 single adults in November, which is nine percent lower compared to the previous month's total of 158,648 stops and the lowest number since August, according to U.S. court documents filed by the Justice Department on Friday.

Nicaraguans are now the second largest nationality at the border among single adults, after Mexicans.

Agents at the southern border stopped 3,513 Venezuelan adults in November, down from 14,697 the previous month, after Mexico agreed on October 12 to receive migrants from Venezuela who were ejected from the United States.

With a drop from October's 56,010 numbers, 43,504 single adults in Mexico were stopped, making them the country's top target.

There was a dramatic increase from the previous low of 16,497 to the new high of 27,361 adult Nicaraguans being stopped.

Furthermore, there were 24,690 adult Cubans who were detained, up from 20,740 the year before.

Separately, on Thursday, a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, found that the Biden administration had improperly stopped a policy from the Trump administration that had mandated that asylum-seekers stay in Mexico until their immigration court appearances could be scheduled.

The ruling did not have much of an immediate impact, but it might be a significant setback for the White House in the long run.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Title 42 Set To Expire Soon - From NBC News