US SC keeps controversial border policy in place
The US government's two-year-old policy of invoking Covid-19 precautions to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants at the Mexican border will remain in place for now, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The decision to uphold the controversial rule known as Title 42 delayed a looming political crisis for President Joe Biden, as thousands waited at the southern border in expectation the policy was about to end.
But the conservative-dominated high court accepted a petition from 19 states warning of a surge of migrants should the policy introduced under former president Donald Trump in March 2020 be lifted as ordered by a lower court.
The Supreme Court said Title 42 -- which allows the swift expulsion even of people who might qualify for asylum-would remain in place pending its ruling on the issue, and that it would hear the case in February.
"The states contend that they face an immigration crisis at the border and policymakers have failed to agree on adequate measures to address it," the court said in its 5-4 ruling. "The only means left to mitigate the crisis, the states suggest, is an order from this Court directing the federal government to continue its Covid-era Title 42 policies as long as possible."
The ruling could give the Biden administration, which had conceded that Title 42 was wrong and prepared for a surge of asylum-seeking migrants, until May or June before a final decision.
Departing the White House for vacation Tuesday night, Biden told reporters that ending Title 42 was "overdue," but the administration would heed the court's decision until a final ruling is made, likely in June.
"In the meantime, we have to enforce it," Biden said.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier in the day the administration would prepare for the next hearing.