Washington, DC – A controversial pandemic-era health rule that has allowed United States authorities to turn away most asylum seekers at the border with Mexico is set to expire this week, a policy shift that Washington expects to result in a spike in border crossings.
The end of Title 42 on Thursday caps a prolonged legal battle between rights groups and US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has also faced court challenges from several Republican-led states seeking to keep the restriction in place.
Title 42 was first invoked by former US President Donald Trump in March 2020 on the pretext of stemming the spread of COVID-19. It has been used to rapidly expel people more than 2.8 million times since then, drawing condemnation from rights groups.
The Biden administration this month announced plans to send additional troops to the US-Mexico border in anticipation of the policy’s expiration, which coincides with the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11.
Washington has also implemented measures to discourage border crossings – including expedited screenings and deportations – that observers have said continue to raise rights concerns.
Here’s the path the policy took through the government and courts:
March 2020: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under then-President Trump invokes Title 42 – a portion of US law that deals with public health, social welfare and civil rights – to allow US authorities to turn away most asylum seekers at the country’s borders.
The administration’s use of a public health measure to tighten US immigration laws is shaped by Trump’s hardline adviser, Stephen Miller, US media outlets will later report.
November 7, 2020: Biden – who on the 2020 campaign trail promised to take a more “humane” approach to immigration than Trump – is declared the winner of the US presidential elections.
November 18, 2020: A US federal court mulling a class-action lawsuit by several rights groups rules that Title 42 cannot be used to expel unaccompanied children at the border.
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the plaintiffs in the case, calls the decision “a critical step in halting the Trump administration’s unprecedented and illegal attempt to expel children under the thin guise of public health”.
January 2021: Biden takes office, but faces criticism for not immediately moving to end Title 42. The administration does,…