Federal Judge Stays Decision Blocking Title 42 (Newsmax)
By Charlie McCarthy | Wednesday, 16 November 2022 01:15 PM EST
A federal judge on Wednesday gave the Biden administration until Dec. 21 to wind down its use of Title 42 to expel migrants.
Saying he did so with "great reluctance," District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan granted the Department of Justice's request to stay a decision that would block the expelling migrants without the chance for asylum under the Title 42 policy.
On Tuesday, Sullivan vacated the Title 42 policy, finding it to be "arbitrary and capricious" and said it violated standards of the Administrative Procedures Act because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "failed to adequately consider alternatives and the policy did not rationally serve its stated purpose."
The DOJ filed its motion on Tuesday night requesting a five-week delay before ending the use of Trump-era Title 42, which helped stem the migrant surge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The delay in implementation of the court's order will allow the government to prepare for an orderly transition to new policies at the border," the Department of Homeland Security wrote in a statement.
The stay will be in effect from Nov. 15 to Dec. 20.
The Biden administration planned to end the policy earlier this year, but a federal judge in a separate case blocked its termination after a group of GOP-led states sought intervention.
Sullivan, an appointee of then-President Bill Clinton, wrote issued a 49-page ruling on Tuesday.
He noted the CDC's "decision to ignore the harm" caused by the policy likewise violated the Administrative Procedures Act.
"It is unreasonable for the CDC to assume that it can ignore the consequences of any actions it chooses to take in the pursuit of fulfilling its goals, particularly when those actions included the extraordinary decision to suspend the codified procedural and substantive rights of noncitizens seeking safe harbor," Sullivan wrote.
"Particularly in view of the harm Plaintiffs face if summarily expelled to countries they may be persecuted or tortured, the Court therefore vacated the Title 42 policy."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of asylum-seeking families.
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement that the policy has "caused enormous harm to tens of thousands of asylum seekers," Axios reported.
"Hopefully this is the end of this shameful policy that was inconsistent with America's values and legal commitments," Gelernt said.