COVID-era U.S. border restrictions to stay, for now
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STORY: Bad news for migrants hoping to soon seek asylum in the United States, after the Supreme Court ordered Title 42, the COVID-era restriction preventing their entry, to stay in place at least, for now.
These migrants had been waiting in Chihuahua, Mexico, expecting Title 42 to expire on Wednesday, after a federal judge last month ruled it unlawful.
“Please soften the heart of President Joe Biden. Let us cross into the United States. We have suffered a lot, we have suffered a lot since we left Venezuela. We went through the jungle, all those countries we have been through.”
But a group of 19 states with Republican attorneys general took the case to the conservative-leaning Supreme Court on Monday, citing concerns that lifting the measure would saddle them with extra costs as more migrants entered.
Chief Justice John Roberts has now given until Tuesday afternoon for the parties involved to respond and pressed pause on any Title 42 decision.
Title 42 was imposed under former President Donald Trump in March 2020, as a means to stop the spread of COVID-19.
It allowed border officials to swiftly expel migrants to Mexico without a chance to seek asylum.
After the federal judge’s ruling against it, and the CDC saying earlier this year it was no longer needed on grounds of public health, the Biden White House had been preparing for Title 42 to end on Wednesday.
The administration had been aiming to ask Congress for some $3 billion to pay for extra staffing, technology, migrant holding facilities and transportation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Authorities were expecting up to 14,000 people to try to cross into the U.S. every day after the restrictions expired, double the current rate.
Biden’s administration has also been weighing new rules following the end of Title 42.
Sources earlier told Reuters that officials privately discussed several Trump-style plans to deter people from Latin America from entering the U.S.
That includes barring single adults seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
