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U.S. NEWS Thursday 17 November 2022
Judge orders end to Trump-era asylum restrictions at border

By ELLIOT SPAGAT gering number. In May,
Associated Press migrants were stopped
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A fed- an average of 7,800 times
eral judge on Tuesday or- a day, the highest of Joe
dered the Biden adminis- Biden’s presidency.
tration to lift Trump-era asy- Immigration advocacy
lum restrictions that have groups have pressed hard
been a cornerstone of bor- to end Title 42, but more
der enforcement since the moderate Democrats, in-
beginning of COVID-19. cluding U.S. Sens. Mark
U.S. District Judge Emmet Kelly of Arizona and Ra-
Sullivan ruled in Washing- phael Warnock of Georgia,
ton that enforcement must wanted it to stay when the
end immediately for fami- administration tried to lift it
lies and single adults, call- in May.
ing the ban “arbitrary and The ban has been uneven-
capricious.” The adminis- ly enforced by nationality,
tration has not applied it to falling largely on migrants
children traveling alone. from Guatemala, Hondu-
Within hours, the Justice ras and El Salvador — in
Department asked the addition to Mexicans — be-
judge to let the order take cause Mexico allows them Four men from Cuba try to keep warm after crossing the border from Mexico and surrendering to
effect Dec. 21, giving it five to be returned from the authorities to apply for asylum on Nov. 3, 2022, near Yuma, Ariz.
weeks to prepare. Plaintiffs United States. Last month, Associated Press
including the American Mexico began accept-
Civil Liberties Union didn’t ing Venezuelans who are ing because of the misuse facing persecution.” Judge Robert Summerhays
oppose the delay. expelled from the United of public laws,” Gelernt Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, in Louisiana, an appointee
“This transition period is States under Title 42, caus- said. “This ruling hopefully policy counsel for the of President Donald Trump,
critical to ensuring that (the ing a sharp drop in Venezu- puts an end to this horren- American Immigration which applied only to how
Department of Homeland elans seeking asylum at the dous period in U.S. history Council, an immigrant the Biden administration
Security) can continue to U.S. border. in which we abandoned advocacy group, distin- tried to end Title 42. Sul-
carry out its mission to se- Nationalities that are less our solemn commitment guished Sullivan’s ruling livan found the entire rule
cure the Nation’s borders likely to be subject to Title to provide refuge to those from the one by U.S. District invalid.q
and to conduct its border 42 have become a grow-
operations in an orderly ing presence at the border,
fashion,” government at- confident they will be re-
torneys wrote. leased in the United States
Sullivan, who was appoint- to pursue their immigration
ed by President Bill Clinton, cases. In October, Cubans
wrote in a 49-page ruling were the second-largest
that authorities failed to nationality at the border
consider the impact on mi- after Mexicans, followed
grants and possible alter- by Venezuelans and Nica-
natives. raguans.
The ruling appears to con- The Homeland Security De-
flict with another in May partment said it would use
by a federal judge in Loui- the next five weeks to “pre-
siana that kept the asylum pare for an orderly transi-
restrictions. tion to new policies at the
If Sullivan’s ruling stands, it border.”
would upend border en- “We continue to work with
forcement. Migrants have countries throughout the
been expelled from the Western Hemisphere to
United States more than 2.4 take enforcement actions
million times since the rule against the smuggling net-
took effect in March 2020, works that entice migrants
denying migrants rights to take the dangerous and
to seek asylum under U.S. often deadly journey to
and international law on our land borders and to
grounds of preventing the address the root causes
spread of COVID-19. of irregular migration that
The practice was autho- are challenging our hemi-
rized under Title 42 of a sphere as a whole,” the
broader 1944 law covering department said.
public health. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt
Before the judge in Louisi- said Sullivan’s decision ren-
ana kept the ban in place ders the Louisiana ruling
in May, U.S. officials said moot.
they were planning for as “This is an enormous victory
many as 18,000 migrants a for desperate asylum seek-
day under the most chal- ers who have been barred
lenging scenario, a stag- from even getting a hear-