The Biden administration will appeal a federal court's decision that invalidated a pandemic era policy blocking migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as related legal challenges move forward, reports Reuters. The administration said it plans to appeal a November ruling by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan throwing out an order known as Title 42, which blocks some asylum seekers at the border. After ruling that Title 42 was invalid, Sullivan gave the administration until Dec. 21 to prepare for winding it down.
An administration official said it intends to continue with that date for the wind-down but will ask an appeals court to rule that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was within its legal authority to issue the order in the first place. The CDC sought to end the order in May, but the move was blocked by a federal court in Louisiana. That case is still active. Issued under former President Trump, Title 42 allows authorities to expel migrants caught at the border rapidly to Mexico or other countries without the chance to pursue asylum. Biden pledged to undo Trump asylum restrictions. However, his administration initially kept the order in place for more than a year amid record migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. officials have been preparing for a possible increase in illegal border crossing if Title 42 ends. A coalition of states with Republican attorneys general are seeking to intervene in the lawsuit to keep Title 42 in place.