On November 16, D.C. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan granted the Biden administration’s request for a five-week stay on his order to end Title 42 migrant expulsions.
“Pursuant to … the government’s representation that the request for a temporary stay is not for the pendency of appeal, but rather to enable the government to make preparations to implement the court’s order, the court, with great reluctance, grants the request. The order will take effect at midnight on December 21, 2022.”
The Department of Homeland Security requested the stay to ensure enough time to revert to processing migrants under Title 8 procedures, assemble resources, and resolve logistical challenges.
Background
The Biden administration first sought to end Title 42 in May 2022 but was blocked by several Republic state attorneys general.
The judgment results from a lawsuit brought forward in January 2021 by families who argued that Title 42 was unlawfully imposed when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed the entry permission criterion without explanation, violating the Administrative Procedure Act. Title 42 was introduced by the Trump administration early in the COVID-19 pandemic as a tool to stop migrants without required personal and medical documents from entering the United States.
Critics opposed Title 42 and alleged it was used more as an immigration tool than a public health policy.
Erickson Insights
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