A federal judge has blocked the Biden administration from ending Title 42 — a controversial border policy that has allowed officials to rapidly turn back migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border nearly 2 million times.
Why it matters: The administration had planned to end the policy on Monday. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have decried the end of the policy — implemented as public health initiative under the Trump administration to block migrants from coming during the pandemic — out of concern that ending Title 42 would exacerbate already record numbers at the border.
- Judge Robert Summerhays issued the 47-page ruling granting the injunction to keep it in place.
- "Given the impact of the Termination Order on the Plaintiff States and their showing that the CDC did not comply with the [Administrative Procedure Act], the Court concludes that the public interest would be served by a preliminary injunction preventing the termination of the CDC's Title 42 Orders," the ruling reads.
The latest: The Department of Justice said Friday it intends to appeal the court's decision.
- “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) invoked its authority under Title 42 due to the unprecedented public-health dangers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," DOJ spokesperson Anthony Coley said.
- "CDC has now determined, in its expert opinion, that continued reliance on this authority is no longer warranted in light of the current public-health circumstances. That decision was a lawful exercise of CDC’s authority."
The big picture: The CDC announced at the start of April the Trump-era border policy would end on May 23, citing declining cases of...