Title 42 Update: Joe Biden Gets Major Slap in Bid to End Trump-Era Border Restriction
For the time being, at least, federal officials will be allowed to promptly remove migrants at U.S. borders after the Supreme Court released a Title 42 update Tuesday, ruling the contentious Trump-era border limitation will remain in effect while court challenges play out.
The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision was a win for Republican-led states that asked the court to intervene to stop a lower court verdict that mandated the expiration of the authority.
President Joe Biden's administration has stated that it is ready for the authority to terminate and that measures have been taken to prevent chaos at the border and an influx of migrants.
The court also stated in its judgment that it would hear the state's appeal within the current term.
CNN noted that the court scheduled an argument on the case for its February 2023 argument session.
Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both on the Supreme Court, have indicated that they will vote to reject the application, though they have offered no reasons for doing so.
Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joined a dissenting opinion written by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Gorsuch has stated that he recognizes the concerns of the States over border security. However, he noted that Title 42 was established to deal with COVID-19 and pointed out that the current border problem is not a COVID crisis.
In his opinion, Gorsuch argued that the "courts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency."
READ NEXT: Title 42 Expires Soon, but the U.S. Court Denies Keeping COVID-19 Asylum Restrictions
Title 42 Supreme Court Decision Gets Divided Reactions
In the early stages of the epidemic, President Trump enacted restrictions commonly referred to as Title 42 about a public health statute passed in 1944.
To stop the spread of COVID-19, officials have expulsed asylum seekers from the country 2.5 million times, per Associated Press News.
Lawyers for immigrants filed suit to overturn the policy, arguing that it violates U.S. and international law by turning away persons seeking refuge in the country.
They have also claimed that the policy is no longer relevant due to advances in coronavirus therapy.
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which had argued to push the Title 42 expiration, stated that they are very disappointed for all the needy asylum seekers suffering due to the restrictions.
Still, they will continue working to remove the program eventually.
The lawsuit was celebrated by states who supported maintaining Title 42.
Kim Reynolds, governor of Iowa, issued a statement Tuesday praising the court's ruling but noting it was not a permanent fix to the country's immigration problems.
She said that she appreciates the continued enforcement of Title 42 to keep illegal immigrants from getting through the southern border of the United States.
However, she also said that the Title 42 supreme court decision is just a "temporary fix" to the problem that President Joe Biden's administration has ignored for two years.
The Supreme Court has decided to revisit whether the states can intervene in the litigation over Title 42.
The federal government and immigration activists have said that states now lack the power to interfere even if they had not waited so long.
Thousands of Migrants Flood the Border Waiting for Title 42 Update
Federal government authorities, immigration advocates, and border organizations have long expected the massive influx of migrants who will present themselves to a border patrol officer upon incoming Title 42 expiration.
Roughly 750 migrants a day have been arriving in Reynosa, Mexico, according to migrant supporters there, as reported by VOA.
About 14,000 families have been helped by advocates and volunteer over the past several weeks, according to Hector Silva, a local pastor who also runs one of the largest migrant shelters south of the border, Senda de Vida, or "Path of Life."
Silva said that people are enticed to come in previous years, but once they arrive, they feel lost.
"And what is happening right now from Tijuana to Matamoros is that people are waiting, and they have been waiting for months. [Some] have been waiting for years. And we tell them one thing: do not risk yourselves. Do not come without knowing what you will face at the border."
READ MORE: Texas: Greg Abbott Gets Brutally Honest on Scary Effects of Title 42 Abolishment
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Bert Hoover
WATCH: Supreme Court keeps Title 42 border expulsions in place indefinitely - From CBS News
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