US Supreme Court freezes removal of policy blocking migrants

The US Supreme Court has halted the imminent scrapping of a key policy used since Donald Trump’s administration to block migrants at the southwest border.

Immigrants run towards a US Border Patrol checkpoint after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

The US Supreme Court has halted the imminent scrapping of a key policy used since Donald Trump’s administration to block migrants at the southwest border, amid worries over a surge in undocumented ­immigrants.

An order signed by Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday night (Tuesday AEDT) placed an emergency stay on the removal planned for Wednesday of Title 42, which allowed the government to use Covid-19 safety protocols to summarily block the entry of millions of migrants. Justice Roberts placed government immigration policy on temporary hold in ­response to a last-minute petition from 20 states arguing that ending Title 42 would create a gush in migrants that would overwhelm their services.

They cited the Department of Homeland Security predicting that border crossings, mostly by Mexicans and other Latin Americans asking for asylum, could ­triple to 18,000 every day.

“The greatly increased number of migrants resulting from this termination will necessarily increase the States’ law enforcement, education, and healthcare costs,” the states argued.

The move came after an ­appeals court in Washington ruled last Friday that there was no longer justification for using Title 42 to sweepingly reject asylum-seekers.

The policy was put in place in March 2020, in Mr Trump’s final year in office, as the coronavirus pandemic swept into the country.  Title 42 prevents asylum-seekers from presenting themselves at ports of entry, allowing border ­patrol officers to turn them away without starting an asylum application.

Its stated purpose is to prevent the entry to the US of people carrying a contagious disease. But critics charge that with Covid endemic in the country – the US has logged about 100 million confirmed cases – it is meaningless. Its true purpose, they say, is to keep migrants out.

Knowing that ports of entry are closed to them, would-be asylum-seekers instead seek out gaps in the fence and other well-used crossing locations.

Once across, they present themselves to under-resourced border officials who take them to facilities where their cases are considered, and, if accepted, release them with a date when their bid for asylum will be considered.

More than 53,000 migrants surrendered to border authorities after illegally crossing at El Paso in ­October alone, a 280 per cent increase on the same month last year.

In their petition, the mostly ­Republican-led states – which ­include border states Texas and Arizona as well as Missouri, Ohio and Virginia – asked that beyond the stay, the court take on the full case over the law.

Justice Roberts gave the parties 24 hours to respond. That left open the possibility that Title 42 could still end this week, or, conversely, that the court could decide to keep it in place while it reviews the case more broadly.

The administration of President Joe Biden had previously ­accepted a lower-court ruling that Title 42 was no longer justified to block asylum-seekers and other migrants.

Last week the White House said the Department of Homeland Security was prepared to deal with the expected surge, but gave few details on how it would do that.

Homeland Security said Title 42 would ­remain in effect as a ­result of the high court’s stay order, and that “individuals who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully will continue to be expelled to Mexico”.

AFP