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On Thursday, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to reject a Republican bid to uphold Title 42, but if the court rules in its favor, it wants it to stay in place for a few days to ensure an “orderly transition.”
In a court filing, US Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar conceded that ending the pandemic-era immigration restriction would lead to a “temporary increase in border crossings,” the health base said. public for politics is “obsolete”.
Still, he asked the court to maintain the suspension until December 27 to “allow the government to once again prepare for a full return to operations.”
In the filing, the Biden administration mocked “new policies” to bolster immigration enforcement under Title 8, instead relying on the CDC provision that it says “has outlived its public health justification.
In response to an appeal by 19 GOP-led states that want to keep Title 42 in place, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked the Biden administration from carrying out its plans to end the policy on Wednesday at midnight.
Prelogar said the red states “do not purport to claim any interest in public health or slowing the spread of COVID-19.”
“Instead, they candidly acknowledge that they wish to use Title 42 orders as a makeshift immigration control measure,” he added.
Roberts had given the Biden administration until 5 p.m. Tuesday to respond, and the court filing was made public moments later.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees all border and immigration operations, responded to the order by insisting that Title 42 will remain in effect for as long as the Supreme Court has set and that “people who attempt to enter the United States illegally continue to be removed to Mexico.’
The agency noted that it will continue to “prepare to manage the border” once the public health order is lifted and “urged Congress to use this time to provide the funds we have requested for border security and management.”
The Supreme Court ordered a 24-hour stay at the end of Title 42, giving President Joe Biden’s administration 24 hours to respond. Pictured: Migrants continue to cross in massive groups into the US at the crossing point in El Paso, Texas
Many migrants are camping out on the Mexican side of the border and waiting until Title 42 ends on Wednesday, December 21, to cross the Rio Grande. Temperatures on the border between Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and El Paso are reaching sub-zero levels and migrants are building campfires to keep warm as they camp overnight.
Title 42, invoked by Donald Trump at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, allows immigration and border officials to force new immigrants back after crossing into the US illegally without going through the usual procedures. of asylum.
First used since 1929, Trump said the Title 42 invocation was meant to stop the spread of COVID across the southern border, but an added benefit to border communities is that it also served to decrease the number of people trying to crossing into the United States illegally for the past nearly three years.
The Biden administration has been trying for 10 months to lift Title 42, but the courts have repeatedly blocked it.
On Monday, Chief Justice Roberts again halted the rescission of the policy, which was due to end shortly before midnight Tuesday.
Roberts, responding to a request by Republicans for the law to remain in effect, said more time was needed and gave the Biden administration just one day to submit its response.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice John Roberts ordered a stay of Title 42
“We just filed an emergency stay request, asking the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold Title 42,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said.
“Getting rid of Title 42 will recklessly endanger more Americans and migrants by exacerbating the catastrophe occurring at our border.”
The Biden administration, which argues that the law should not be in place permanently, rather than seeking durable solutions, has long tried to lift the rule.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on April 1 that the law would be repealed on May 23, but a Louisiana court blocked the repeal.
Thousands of migrants cross the Rio Grande every day to become Border Patrol agents and apply for asylum in the US.
The order notes that Title 42 is stayed for the next day while the Court considers a GOP offer for a longer pause to finalize the policy.
In November, a judge in Washington DC overturned the Louisiana decision, saying Title 42 was “arbitrary and capricious” and should not remain in effect.
DHS requested five weeks “to prepare for the transition” to process all migrants under pre-COVID policies, which would mean allowing them to cross the southern border to apply for asylum.
US District Judge Emmet Sullivan granted the request with “great reluctance” and Title 42 was due to end Tuesday and take effect at midnight Wednesday, December 21.
The White House insisted earlier Monday that the repeal of Title 42 was proceeding as planned.
“We remain under a court order to lift Title 42,” Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
“That is a court order telling us to lift Title 42,” he added. “And we are going to comply because we respect the rule of law.”
However, the demand from Republicans to keep it in place was growing.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich was among those filing an emergency stay asking the Supreme Court to keep Title 42 in place after it expired Wednesday.
North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer released a statement pointing to border seizures of fentanyl as a reason to uphold Title 42 and hailing the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the completion of the policy.
“Title 42 is as effective as the Administration wants it to be, which, based on Joe Biden’s track record, isn’t much,” the Republican senator said in his statement.
He added that the problems will only increase “until the White House begins to take the border crisis seriously and enacts policies to protect our borders.”