The Supreme Court extended the validity of Title 42, a rule imposed by Donald Trump nearly three years ago during the pandemic, which expired in the first minute on Wednesday, December 21. This measure allowed the US government to quickly deport immigrants arriving at the border with Mexico. The court’s decision came Monday afternoon, hours after a coalition of 19 Republican states applied for an extension amid fears of border collapse and impact on their regions. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Robert’s decision is preliminary. The Biden administration must take new arguments to court this Tuesday if it wants to end a controversial initiative that has been criticized by human rights groups.
Title 42 went into effect in March 2020 to prevent further outbreaks of the coronavirus on U.S. soil. Despite being a sanitary measure, it became a political weapon that caused a tug of war in the courts. Emmet Sullivan, a federal district judge, said in November the move was inhumane because it sent thousands of people back to places where they were likely to be “harassed, tortured, beaten or raped.” On Friday, an appeals court upheld Sullivan’s position, clearing the way for the Biden administration to reverse what he announced in May. According to the government, this would be replaced by an immigration policy that further analyzes the thousands of asylum applications that come in every day.
“As requested by the Supreme Court order, Title 42 remains in effect for the time being. Individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally will continue to be sent to Mexico,” said Marcha Espinosa, public affairs officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Unlike deportation, a process that can take months or even years, Title 42 allows Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to quickly fingerprint detainees and send them to Mexico. All within minutes. The situation prompted many to attempt the crossing again days later. An analysis of the measure’s first year and a half showed that about 4,000 people had tried it 20 times. According to the Washington Post, a Mexican has tried his luck 81 times.
The Republican bloc has demonstrated against the end of a measure that contributed to the return of 2.4 million people to Mexico (one person may have been deported more than once). “The battle for Title 42 continues,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said this afternoon. Greg Abbott, the state governor, welcomed the interim decision. “The order is a step in the right direction. This will help prevent illegal immigration,” the president said on Twitter. The governments of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming also joined this goal.
The planned end of the measure has increased tensions at the border. Authorities assured a few weeks ago that they were ready to handle up to 18,000 immigrants every day. This number was not reached, but migration flows increased sharply. The press has reported a steady stream of people in recent weeks. Calculations assume that between 9,000 and 14,000 migrants reach the common border of more than 3,000 km.
This situation has left several cities and even democratic strongholds in trouble. Oscar Leeser, the progressive mayor of El Paso, a border town in Texas, declared a state of emergency for the city on Saturday. The politician reiterated that this would allow the city council to temporarily increase its resources to support the arrival of thousands of migrants. “We want to make sure that people are treated with dignity and that everyone is safe,” Leeser told reporters. The money provides shelter and food for people coming from Mexico. Washington has warned that arrivals of citizens from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba have increased in recent months.
Gavin Newsom, California governor and one of the most important voices among Democrats, also warned. The charismatic leader complained that the Biden administration was increasing the number of flights and busloads of immigrants. “We have nine full immigration centers,” the president told ABC last week. Newsom said budgetary pressures from other issues threaten the functioning of these centers and many would end up on the streets if people continued to come, fueling the problem of homelessness. “The fact is that what we have now is not working. And it’s about to collapse in a post-Title 42 world if we don’t face our responsibilities.” The border, both political camps seem to say, is about to collapse.
Source: La Neta Neta
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
