US judge halts Biden's plan to end asylum rules on border

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US judge halts Biden's plan to end asylum rules on border

A judge ruled Friday that the Biden administration's plan to lift them early next week must be stopped because of the pandemic-era restrictions on people seeking asylum on the southern border.

The ruling is just the latest instance of a court derailing the president's proposed immigration policies along the US border with Mexico.

The ruling increases the odds that the restrictions won't end as planned on Monday and increases the odds that the restrictions won't end as planned. The delay would be a blow to advocates who claim that rights to seek asylum are being trampled, and a relief for some Democrats who fear that an increase in illegal crossings would put them on the defensive in an already difficult midterm election year.

Since March 2020, individuals have been expelled more than 1.9 million times under Title 42, a public health provision that denies them a chance to request asylum under US law and international treaty, citing the spread of Covid- 19.

The restrictions are in place while a lawsuit led by Arizona and Louisiana plays out in court, according to US district judge Robert Summerhays in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The states claimed that the administration had failed to consider the effects that lifting the restrictions would have on public health and law enforcement. At a hearing in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC failed to follow administrative procedures that required public notice and time to gather public comment, argued Drew Ensign, an attorney for the state of Arizona.

Jean Lin, a justice department attorney, told the judge that the CDC was empowered to lift an emergency health restriction it felt was no longer needed. She said the order was a matter of health policy, not immigration.

Summerhays, who was elected by Donald Trump, had already ruled in favor of the states by halting efforts to end down the use of the pandemic-era rule. He said last month that a phaseout would saddle states with unrecoverable costs on healthcare, law enforcement, detention, education, and other services. Title 42 is the second major Trump-era policy to deny asylum at the Mexican border that was jettisoned by Joe Biden, only to be revived by a Trump-appointed judge.

The US supreme court heard arguments last month on whether to allow the administration to force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in the USimmigration court. In the case, Remain was challenged in Mexico. It originated in Amarillo, Texas. It was reinstated in December on the judge's order and remains in effect while the litigation plays out.