US authorities cannot immediately proceed with plans to lift restrictions that empowered agents at the border with Mexico to return migrants no chance to apply for asylum, a Louisiana judge said Friday.
The national order issued by District Judge Robert Summerhays means the restrictions, which were due to end on May 23, will remain in place in the border while the litigation proceeds. The US Justice Department plans to appeal the decision, a spokesman said.
The pandemic restrictions, known as Title 42, were implemented in March 2020 under former Republican President Donald Trump. Health authorities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said at the time that it was necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Since then, more than one million migrants detainees at the border have been quickly expelled to Mexico or other countries under the order, often within hours of being captured.
President Joe Bidena Democrat who took office in January 2021, held on to Title 42, despite concerns from medical experts, the United Nations and leading members of his own party who said the expulsions endanger vulnerable migrants and they were not based on science.
In April, the CDC said that Title 42 was no longer necessary to combat Covid-19 due to the increased availability of vaccines and other tools. The health agency gave border authorities until May 23 to prepare for its end.
But a coalition of two dozen states led by Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri, all with Republican attorneys general, sued to prevent the administration from ending the policy.
Trump-appointed Judge Summerhays said a nationwide injunction is necessary given the ability of immigrants crossing the border to move freely from state to state.
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