Border security suffered a blow this week after a federal judge struck down a Trump-era policy allowing for quick removal of illegal aliens.
Judge says government “failed to articulate a satisfactory explanation” for Title 42
According to the Washington Examiner, the case concerned Title 42 of the Public Health Service Act of 1944, a rule which allows border officials to expel illegal migrants before they can make a claim for asylum.
Under former President Donald Trump, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention invoked Title 42 in March of 2020, citing a need to control the spread of COVID-19.
However, D.C. federal district court Judge Emmet Sullivan declared in a 49-page opinion on Tuesday that Title 42 runs afoul of the Administrative Procedures Act
Sullivan complained that the CDC “ignore[d] the harm that could be caused” by Title 42 and had failed to consider less restrictive measures in combating COVID.
These included having migrants self-quarantine in the homes of friends, family, or shelters. What’s more, Sullivan insisted that use of Title 42 should have been reevaluated in 2021 after vaccines and testing became widespread.
“With regard to whether defendants could have ‘ramped up vaccinations, outdoor processing, and all other available public health measures,'” the judge wrote.
Sullivan went on to assert that “the court finds the CDC failed to articulate a satisfactory explanation for why such measures were not feasible.”
Illegal border crossings surge to record level under President Joe Biden
Sullivan’s decision was welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which had helped to challenge Title 42.
“Title 42 was never about public health, and this ruling finally ends the charade of using Title 42 to bar desperate asylum seekers from even getting a hearing,” the Examiner quoted ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt as saying in a statement.
The Biden administration has presided over a massive upswing in illegal immigration, with Fox News reporting in August that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents had encountered over 2 million illegal border crossers at that point in the fiscal year.
Fox News noted that the figure set a new record, smashing the previous record of 1.7 million illegal migrant encounters set in fiscal year 2021.