US judge throws out policy used to block migrant entry

A US federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the government could not use public health rules to block the entry of asylum-seeking migrants, marking the apparent end of a controversial Donald Trump-era policy that has been criticised as cruel and ineffective. Judge Emmet Sullivan said Title 42, which has been used to expel hundreds of thousands of people since being invoked in the early days of the Covid pandemic, was an “arbitrary and capricious” policy that violated government procedures. The Department of Homeland Security filed a stay motion asking that Tuesday’s decision be suspended for five weeks, but stressed it was doing so as a transitional measure. “The delay in implementation of the court’s order will allow the government to prepare for an orderly transition to new policies at the border,” a statement said.