Biden tells Supreme Court that states should stay out of legal fight over Title 42 policy
rapidly expel migrants attempting to enter the country over concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
The administration’s filing is the latest move in a showdown over the Trump-era policy that is playing out amid a chaotic scene on the southwest border as officials gird for an influx of migrants if Title 42 is lifted. That was originally set to happen Wednesday, but the Supreme Court’s last-minute intervention left the fate of the program uncertain.
The states “do not claim to be seeking to vindicate any interest in public health or slowing the spread of COVID-19,” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the court in the administration’s brief. “Instead, they candidly acknowledge that they wish to use the Title 42 orders as a make-shift immigration-control measure.”
conservative states that want to keep Title 42 in place, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked the Biden administration late Monday from carrying out its plans to end the policy. Roberts asked the federal government to respond to the appeal by Tuesday evening, hours before the program was set to expire. El Paso readies for ‘whatever happens’ as humanitarian crisis persistsConservative states ask Supreme Court to keep Title 42 policy in place
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Roberts’ single-page order did not signal how the Supreme Court will rule on the states’ request. A more lasting decision from the high court is expected in coming days.
Title 42 permits Customs and Border Protection agents to expel migrants without the usual legal review to Mexico or to their home countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities. Title 42 has been used to expel migrants more than 2.4 million times since its implementation in 2020 and has bottled up tens of thousands of migrants in Mexican border cities who are waiting to request asylum in the United States.
The Biden administration announced in April that it intended to wind down the policy because vaccines and therapeutics had eased the impact of the virus.Â
As Washington tried to parse how the Supreme Court might rule, elected officials along the border said they were preparing for the program to end – at some point. El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser said the city would continue to provide humanitarian and logistical support to help migrants released by Border Patrol. Leeser declared a state of emergency as Border Patrol encounters in the region reached 2,500 per day.
Across the border, meanwhile, there was confusion. Some migrants in Juárez said they heard that the border would “close” on Wednesday; others that it would “open.” People staying in shelters over the weekend shared stories of friends who had been expelled to Mexico and others who had been granted a chance to stay in the U.S.
put the Biden administration in an unusual position: On the one hand, it ostensibly wants to end the program. On the other, it has faced criticism from Republicans and some Democrats who worry that border officials are not prepared for the potential onslaught of new migrants seeking to claim asylum.
Visit:Biden to travel to Mexico in January for meeting with AMLO amid migrant crisis
Strategy:Biden strategy on Title 42 reflects effort to preserve agency power
Department of Homeland Security officials say they have scrambled resources to the border but the White House is also pressuring Congress for more money to deal with a potential increase in migrants.Â
Biden will travel to Mexico next month to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the White House said Tuesday. Biden will be in Mexico City in January for the North American Leaders’ Summit.
Contributing: Lauren Villagran, El Paso Times, Francesca Chambers