The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said that a Trump-era border policy will remain in place until the court at least has a chance to hear the case in February. Title 42 is an emergency public health policy put into effect by President Donald Trump in 2020, suspending the entry of immigrants from certain countries in order to slow or prevent the spread of Covid-19.
In spite of the policy, millions of illegal immigrants have poured across the border during the nearly two years that Joe Biden has been president. More than three million illegal immigrants attempted entry into the country in 2022, the highest ever recorded.
Biden was set to rescind the policy this month and critics feared that the border with Mexico would become even more chaotic.
It was a split decision of 5-4 by the court and it overturned a District of Columbia court ruling that said Title 42 was arbitrary and capricious and therefore invalid. Eighteen states joined Arizona in appealing the lower court decision, and the conservative-leaning court ruled in their favor, allowing Border Patrol to expedite the expulsion of illegal immigrants. t
“Our office has been proud to lead the charge on this important issue,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement. “It’s disappointing the Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the safety of American families for political purposes.”
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the court’s left-wing minority of Justices Sonya Sotomayor, Elena Fagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in their dissent from the majority decision.
