An appeals court on Friday rejected efforts by conservative-leaning states to keep in place COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions on immigrants seeking asylum.
The decision means that the restrictions are still on track to expire on Wednesday, unless further appeals are filed.
Conservative-leaning states had been pushing to keep the restrictions in place. The asylum restrictions were put in place in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. They essentially allow border officials to quickly turn back potential asylum seekers on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The policy is often referred to as Title 42 because it comes from Title 42 of a 1944 law covering public health.
Migrants have been expelled from the United States more than 2.5 million times since the rule took effect in March 2020, although that figure also includes people who are expelled and try again to enter the U.S.
Advocates for immigrants had argued that the U.S. was essentially abandoning its longstanding history and commitments to offer refuge to people around the world fleeing persecution, and sued to end the use of Title 42. They’ve also argued the restrictions were a pretext by Trump for restricting migration, and in any case, vaccines and other treatments make that argument outdated.
