Essay:Judge Grants Delay in Controversial Title 42 Immigration Policy
Judge Grants Delay in Controversial Title 42 Immigration Policy
By Nancy Thorner
Title 42 is a World War II-era public health order[1] that prohibits entry into the United States if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes it could introduce communicable diseases into the country. It was invoked by CDC officials at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March of 2022
The policy was instituted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) under the Trump administration at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to slow the spread of the disease.
As proclaimed by then Director of CDC Robert Redfield in his order to invoke Title 42:[1] “There is a serious danger of the introduction of COVID-19 into the land (ports of entry) and Border Patrol stations at or near the United States borders with Canada and Mexico, and into the interior of the country as a whole, because COVID-19 exists in Canada, Mexico, and the other countries of origin of persons who migrate to the United States across the United States land borders with Canada and Mexico.”
The order thus applies to anyone who travels from Canada or Mexico, regardless of country of origin.”
The CDC was heavily criticized by public health experts and immigrant advocates because it had largely barred asylum at the US-Mexico border, an unprecedented departure from traditional protocol.[1]
Federal judge puts Title 42 on hold
Federal judge, Judge Emmet Sullivan, on Wednesday, November 15, 2022, put on hold for five weeks (until midnight December 21) his ruling striking down the controversial Title 42 immigration policy, a Trump-era rule that’s allowed US authorities to expel more than 1 million migrants who crossed the US-Mexico border.
In doing so, District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in his order "that he was granting the Biden administration’s request for a stay with “GREAT RELUCTANCE.” Sullivan had found the Title 42 order to be “arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Sullivan further faulted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing the public health order for “its decision to ignore the harm that could be caused” by issuing the policy. Sullivan said the CDC failed to consider alternative approaches, such as letting migrants self-quarantine in homes of US-based friends, family, or shelters. The agency, he said, should have reexamined its approach when vaccines and tests became widely available.
“With regard to whether defendants could have ‘ramped up vaccinations, outdoor processing, and all other available public health measures,’… the court finds the CDC failed to articulate a satisfactory explanation for why such measures were not feasible,” Sullivan wrote.
Sullivan also concluded that the policy did not rationally serve its purpose, given that Covid-19 was already widespread throughout the United States when the policy was rolled out.
Sullivan’s ruling comes on the heels of the resignation of US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus, who had been asked to resign by Alejandro Mayorkas last week.[1]
Department of Homeland Security responds
In a statement following the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security said that, if granted, “the delay in implementation of the court’s order will allow the government to prepare for an orderly transition to new policies at the border.”
“The department added that it would continue to enforce immigration laws at the border, work with other countries to take action against smuggling networks and “address the root causes of irregular migration."
McCarthy threatens impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas
As reported by Matthew Choi on Nov. 22, 2022, Kevin McCarthy, when visiting the Texas border, called on DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to either resign or impeachment will be considered in the U.S. House when Republicans take charge.
What ending Title Four could mean
Asylum could be restored for arriving migrants, at which time they would be allowed to make their case in immigration courts.
Prior to Title 42,[1] all migrants arrested at the border were processed under immigration law. Now there are thousands of migrants waiting along the border in shelters to enter the U.S.