The Biden administration will appeal a ruling by a federal judge that temporarily halted the reversal of Title 42, according to a White House statement. “The Administration disagrees with the Court’s ruling and the Justice Department has announced that it will appeal this decision,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Jean-Pierre’s statement came hours after US District Court Judge Robert Summerhays blocked the administration from ending Title 42, a Trump border management policy that allows migrants to be quickly expelled. of the border in pandemic conditions.
The Louisiana judge granted a preliminary injunction to a group of Republican state attorneys general who opposed the reversal. Summerhays argued that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bypassed a process that allows for public input on the decision to rescind Title 42.
Summerhays went on to argue that the plaintiffs demonstrated the harm that would result from the reversal, adding that “despite the order’s impact on the states, they failed to protect their interests by participating in the notice and comment process.”
In the White House statement, Jean-Pierre argued that the authority to determine public health policy should reside with the CDC. “The authority to set public health policy at the national level should rest with the Centers for Disease Control, not a single district court. However, pursuant to the court order, the Biden administration will continue to enforce the 2020 CDC Title 42 public health authority pending appeal.”
He added: “This means that migrants who attempt to enter the United States illegally will be subject to removal under Title 42, as well as immigration consequences such as removal under Title 8.”
Summerhays’ ruling came just days before the rollback was to take place on May 23. The Biden administration announced that it would rescind Title 42 in early April, a decision that drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Moderate Democrats, including Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), opposed the decision. Manchin called her “terrifying.”
