U.S. District Court Judge Robert Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana on Friday afternoon blocked the U.S. government from ending the Title 42 policy, forcing U.S. border officials to resume turning most illegal migrants back to Mexico rather than taking them into custody.
The injunction was a response to a suit filed by the states of Arizona, Louisiana, and Missouri, claiming the government had failed to plan for handling the anticipated surge in noncitizens expected to cross when Title 42, promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, goes away and that the influx of releases would harm states. A total of 24 states are listed as plaintiffs.
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In his decision, the states "established a substantial likelihood of success based on the CDC's failure to comply with the rulemaking requirements" under federal law, justifying keeping the policy in place as the case works through the courts.
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At the beginning of the pandemic, the CDC recommended that U.S. border authorities expel people rather than take them into custody on the basis that it would delay the spread of the Coronavirus. Since then, the United States has removed 1.7 million people through the authority, including some multiple times. Those evicted did not face legal charges despite unlawful entry being a misdemeanor the first time and a felony thereafter.
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The Trump administration enforced Title 42 to a greater extent than the Biden administration has. Under former President Donald Trump, essentially all illegal immigrants were expelled to Mexico or their home country.
However, expulsions became more complex in late 2020, when people from countries beyond Mexico and Central America began crossing the border at higher rates than had been seen in the Border Patrol’s 98-year history. Because the Mexican government refused to accept back migrants from countries beyond Central America, the U.S. was forced to take them into arrest.
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Because families cannot go through immigration removal proceedings in the 20 days in which they are legally permitted to be detained, they are released and told to show up for court years down the road. The immigration courts have approximately 1.5 million cases pending before roughly 500 judges nationwide.
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Migrant releases only add to the backlog of cases, and the increase in removals over the past two years has further loaded the courts. The number of migrants faced trying to enter the U.S. without legal permission has risen under Title 42, from 17,000 in April 2020 to 234,000 last month. Republicans have repeatedly called to keep the policy, saying that allowing the Border Patrol to turn people away immediately is necessary to prevent a worse crisis.
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