U.S. Judge Intends to Temporarily Block Plan to Lift COVID Border Restrictions for Migrants

A federal judge in Louisiana said on Monday that he intends to rule that U.S. authorities cannot immediately proceed with plans to lift pandemic restrictions that empowered U.S. agents at the Mexico border to turn back migrants without a chance to seek asylum.

U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays stated his intention after a hearing in a case brought by 21 states against the administration of President Joe Biden.

The ruling would upend a decision by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to terminate the so-called Title 42 border order by May 23. Title 42 allows U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants to Mexico and other countries without the chance to seek asylum.

Monday’s decision is a victory for Republicans who said ending the order would have increased illegal immigration and what they characterized as meritless asylum claims.

The CDC said in early April that Title 42 was no longer needed to fight COVID-19 due to the increased availability of vaccines, therapeutics and other tools to counter the disease.

In the Louisiana lawsuit, a coalition of 21 states led by Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri, all with Republican attorneys general, are seeking to halt the termination of the order put in place under former Republican President Donald Trump in early 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.

Biden, a Democrat, has struggled to implement what he describes as a more humane and orderly system at the U.S.-Mexico border amid record numbers of migrants arrested while crossing illegally, unfavorable court rulings and political opposition from Republicans and some in his own party.