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Justice Roberts temporarily halts lifting of Title 42 border restrictions, gives Biden admin short window to respond

December 20, 2022 | | Print Article

With the southern border all but overrun by illegal immigrants and communities fearing what comes next with the scheduled lifting of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allows the U.S. to expel migrants over concerns about public health risks, the Supreme Court issued a temporary reprieve — for 24 hours, at least.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts paused the scheduled lifting of the emergency health order on Monday after a coalition of 19 states, led by Arizona, asked the high court to halt the lifting of  Title 42, which was set to expire this Wednesday. The Biden administration was given until 4 p.m. Central time Tuesday to respond — last month, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that implementation violated federal law and gave the White House until Dec. 21 to end it.

The Department of Homeland Security said the public health order “will remain in effect at this time and individuals who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully will continue to be expelled to Mexico.”

The statement fails to take into account hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants crossing into the country monthly, with many being released into the continental U.S.

“While this stage of the litigation proceeds, we will continue our preparations to manage the border in a safe, orderly, and humane way when the Title 42 public health order lifts,” DHS said. “We urge Congress to use this time to provide the funds we have requested for border security and management and advance the comprehensive immigration measures President Biden proposed on his first day in office.”

Shelters on Mexico’s side of the border are reportedly packed with migrants waiting on Title 42 to be lifted and with as many as 8,000 currently crossing on a given day, that number could double, according to various media reports.

The Democratic mayor of El Paso, who had been honoring an administration request not to declare a state of emergency, finally did so this week with his city overrun by migrants — the El Paso airport is being used to shelter those who entered the country illegally with local shelters overflowing and hundreds being released forced to sleep in the streets amid frigid temperatures.

“We want to make sure we’re prepared,” El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said at a press conference on Monday, in regard to the expected lifting of Title 42.

Leeser said there could be 20,000 migrants waiting to cross the border into El Paso, citing discussions with Mexican partners and Border Patrol agents, according to the Texas Tribune.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to Twitter to comment on Justice Robert’s ruling.

“BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts has HALTED the lifting of Title 42 for now. Texas and other states are insisting that the Court leave Title 42 in place,” the Republican tweeted. “Today’s order is a step in that direction. This helps prevent illegal immigration.”

Abbott had vowed to send the National Guard to the border prior to the November election and said he would turn back illegal immigrants — yet, post-election, record numbers of migrants are flowing into Texas at will. Staggering numbers, as seen in the videos below:

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is declaring that the wide open southern border is anything but.

“It would be wrong to think that the border is open. It is not open. And I just want to be very, very clear about that,” the diversity hire said at Monday’s press briefing.

Jean-Pierre insisted the administration has worked to “surge resources at the border to deal with” the planned lifting of Title 42. Her solution is to call on Republicans to support a $3.5 billion funding request — the answer apparently being to process the hordes of illegal immigrants faster as they invade the southern border.

Tom Tillison
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