U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan on Wednesday granted “with great reluctance” the Biden Administration’s request for a five-week delay of his order to end the expulsions of migrants under Title 42.
Sullivan’s order will now take effect at midnight on December 21.
Title 42 is a clause from the 1944 public health code that allows the government to take emergency action to stop the “introduction of communicable diseases” into the U.S., but it had been rarely used until the Trump Administration implemented it as an immigration policy when the Covid pandemic struck. The Biden Administration continued its use, expelling migrants roughly 2 million times, although many were repeat border-crossers.
On Tuesday, Judge Sullivan had ruled the order unlawful, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and that it violated federal regulatory law.
The White House had filed an unopposed motion late on Tuesday to delay implementation of Sullivan’s ruling by five weeks in order to move additional resources to the border, and to coordinate with state and local governments and non-profits.
