A federal judge in Louisiana is refusing to end pandemic-related restrictions on migrants seeking asylum on the southern border. The judge on Friday blocked a plan by President Joe Biden’s administration to lift the restrictions next Monday. Migrants have been expelled more than 1.9 million times since March 2020 under federal Title 42 authority. The provision denies migrants a chance to request asylum under U.S. law and international treaty on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Arizona and Louisiana led 24 states in challenging the plan to end the restrictions.
Pandemic-related restrictions on migrants seeking asylum on the southern border must continue, a judge ruled Friday in an order blocking the Biden administration’s plan to lift them early next week.
The ruling is just the latest instance of a court derailing the president’s proposed immigration policies along the U.S. border with Mexico. While the administration can appeal, the ruling sharply increases the odds that restrictions will not end as planned on Monday. A delay would be a blow to advocates who say rights to seek asylum are being trampled, and a relief to some Democrats who fear that a widely anticipated increase in illegal crossings would put them on the defensive in an already difficult midterm election year.
Migrants have been expelled more than 1.9 million times since March 2020 under Title 42, a public health provision that denies them a chance to request asylum under U.S. law and international treaty on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.Download NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth