Supreme Court Pauses Expiration of Title 42

A Border Patrol agent instructs illegal immigrants who crossed the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Dec. 19, 2022. John Moore/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to pause the expiration of Title 42 after 19 states filed an emergency application for a stay.

Chief Justice John Roberts has temporarily stayed a lower court’s decision that would lift Title 42 on Wednesday. He called for an “administrative stay“ that puts the order on hold while the justices consider the multistate request.

Earlier on Monday, Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, and 16 other GOP-led filed an emergency application urging the SCOTUS to reverse the lower court’s decision to strike down Title 42.

“Getting rid of Title 42 will recklessly and needlessly endanger more Americans and migrants by exacerbating the catastrophe that is occurring at our southern border,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a news release. Unlawful crossings are estimated to surge from 7,000 per day to as many as 18,000.”

On Nov. 16, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C., struck down the policy that allows immigration officials to quickly expel migrants who enter the U.S. during a public health emergency. Sullivan was appointed to serve as a federal judge by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

Title 42 was invoked by the Trump administration in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Irreparable Harm’

Last month, the multistate coalition attempted to intervene to allow states to continue defending the policy. When the district court judge refused to rule on the motion, the states appealed to a higher court to stay the decision.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied the motion to intervene.

Now, the coalition cited there would be “irreparable harm absent a stay.”

“In particular, the greatly increased number of migrants resulting from this termination will necessarily increase the States’ law enforcement, education, and healthcare costs,” the application reads.

“The likelihood of irreparable harm to the States is underscored by the fact that DHS has requested $3-4 billion in emergency funding to deal with the imminent calamity that the district court’s decision will occasion,” the document continued.

According to preliminary Customs and Border Protection data provided to The Epoch Times, from Dec. 1 through Dec. 19, the border’s two busiest sectors—El Paso and Del Rio in Texas—counted 70,288 illegal alien apprehensions and an additional 28,913 who evaded arrest.

Illegal migrants at the Rio Grande in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 18, 2021. Charlie C. Peebles, Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) recently invoked his state’s right to protect its own territory against the invasion of drug cartels as a result of the Biden administration’s border policies.

“Texans are paying the price for your failure. Ranches are being ripped apart, and homes are vulnerable to intrusion. Our border communities are regularly disrupted by human traffickers and bailouts,” Abbott wrote in a letter to Biden on Nov. 16. “Deadly fentanyl is crossing the porous border to such a degree that it is now the leading cause of death for citizens between the ages of 18 and 45.”

“Your inaction has led to catastrophic consequences. Under your watch, America is suffering the highest volume of illegal immigration in the history of our country,” he continued.

Witnessing the situation at the border, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez also sent a letter asking Biden to delay the repeal of Title 42. Cortez invited the president to visit South Texas and address the “serious issue on the horizon” border towns face with the dissolution of Title 42.

The American Civil Liberties Union has long been fighting for the end of Title 42.

“The policy was implemented during the Trump administration, in violation of longstanding immigration statutes requiring that asylum seekers receive a full and fair proceeding to determine their right to protection in the United States,” the ACLU wrote on its website last month.

California ‘About to Break’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who visited the California-Mexico border last week, said the sanctuary state has spent “roughly $1 billion over the past three years to support the health and safety of migrants as well as the surrounding border communities, but we cannot continue to do this work alone,” according to a news release.

In an interview after his border visit, Newson told KXTV News that the system in California is “about to break.”

“The fact is, what we’ve got right now is not working, and it’s about to break in a post-42 world unless we take some responsibility and ownership,” Gavin said.

Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the total number of border apprehensions so far in December. The Epoch Times regrets the error.