The US government asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to allow the end of Title 42, which speeds up the expulsion of migrants at the border, but asked that this rule be maintained until after Christmas.
The executive headed by Joe Biden asked the US justice to maintain this rule, a health regulation that allows the expulsion of migrants at the border under the pretext of the pandemic, until December 27.
The Supreme Court on Monday stopped the closure of that regulation, which was scheduled for this Wednesday, in response to a request from a group of 19 state attorneys general, governed mostly by Republicans, who argued that its suspension would cause “enormous and irreparable damage” in terms of immigration.
The president of the highest judicial body in the US, conservative judge John Roberts, gave the parties involved until 10:00 p.m. this Tuesday (03:00 a.m. Wednesday in Lisbon), to respond to the Supreme Court.
In the administration’s response, US Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote that the attorneys for the states that brought the case to the Supreme Court “do not intend to claim any public health interest or slow the spread of Covid-19”.
Instead, they “frankly acknowledge that they want to use the Title 42 measures as a makeshift immigration control measure,” he said.
The prosecutor also emphasized that the government admits that ending Title 42 “will likely result in insecurity and a temporary increase in illegal crossings.”
“But the solution to the immigration problem cannot be to indefinitely extend a health measure that everyone now recognizes has exceeded its public health justification,” he added.
The immigration restrictions, often referred to as Title 42, were established by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 and have prevented hundreds of thousands of immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States in recent years.
Immigration advocates have tried to block the use of Title 42 to limit who can claim asylum, saying the policy runs counter to US and international obligations for people fleeing to the United States to escape persecution.
On the other hand, conservative states that press to maintain the limits on asylum seekers, established during the start of the new coronavirus pandemic, have appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
They argued that lifting Title 42 will lead to a flood of immigrants to their states and put the burden on government services, such as health care or law enforcement.
They also accuse the federal government of not having a plan to deal with the increase in migrants. The United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) assured this Tuesday that it is prepared for a possible request from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure conditions on the border with Mexico, given the increase in the flow of migrants.
Thousands of migrants have arrived at the border in recent weeks, hoping that Title 42 will be suspended.
Source: TSF
