Federal Judge rules migrants can still be denied entry under Title 42

The Judge’s Federal Ruling

Judge Robert Summerhays of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has ruled for a temporary block in the halting of restrictions of Title 42, a pandemic era public health policy that denies entry to foreign nationals who are believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease. Therefore, migrants can still be denied entry at the U.S. southern border or expelled from the United States without an asylum hearing if they have been believed to have been exposed to COVID-19.

Before this ruling, the Biden administration had made plans to phase out the policy and bring it to a complete end on May 23rd, 2022. As it stands currently, all migrants at the southern border will be subject to Title 42 until the policy ends in May. Judge Summerhays has not ruled on whether the policy should be kept in place indefinitely but only that efforts to transition away from using it should be temporarily stopped for 14 days.

This federal ruling was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the states of Missouri, Louisiana, and Arizona to keep Title 42 in place. In that lawsuit, these states argued that some migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were not subjected to Title 42 despite it still being in place.

What this means for asylum seekers at the southern border

Asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border will still be subject to Title 42 until the policy ends on May 23rd, 2022. This means that some migrants will be refused entry and the right to seek asylum in the United States forcing them to either return to their home countries or stay in Mexico. However, migrants are still expected to travel to the border in droves despite this temporary court order.

In March 2022, authorities encountered more than 221,000 migrants seeking entry into the United States, the largest amount seen in decades. Half of these migrants were refused by officials due to Title 42. It is expected that the U.S. southern border will see a surge in border crossing and asylum seekers when the health policy ends in May 2022.

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