Statement on Judge Blocking Biden
Administration From Ending Title 42
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey issued a statement Monday after a federal judge agreed on a temporary restraining order to stop the Biden Administration from rescinding the public health policy Title 42.
“Although this is a huge victory as far as border security is concerned, we will keep on fighting this administration’s utter disregard in protecting our Southern border,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “First Biden terminated ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy, now the administration is trying to lift Title 42 – time and again the Biden Administration shows it has failed to act to protect our homeland.”
According to a notice issued by Judge Robert Summerhays of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to all counsel of record, the court discussed the motion for temporary restraining order Monday afternoon and “announced its intent to grant the motion. The parties will confer regarding the specific terms to be contained in the Temporary Restraining Order and attempt to reach agreement.”
Attorney General Morrisey recently joined that lawsuit along with 20 other attorneys general.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it will terminate the Title 42 public health policy on May 23. Title 42 allows border officials to turn away migrants because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The policy has been in effect since March 2020 and has been used by both the Trump Administration and the Biden Administration to turn away thousands of migrants to try and keep communicable diseases, like COVID-19, out of the country.
The attorneys general argue that revoking the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) as it is arbitrary and capricious, and the Biden Administration did not conduct the statutorily required notice and comment process.
Revoking Title 42 will create a surge at the Southern border, and it will overwhelm law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organizations as well.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that getting rid of Title 42 could result in as many as 18,000 migrants per day showing up at the Southern Border – which could mean 540,000 migrants in a single month.
The attorneys general are asking the court to force the Biden Administration to keep Title 42 in place until it conducts the notice and comment period required under the APA and adopts a policy that is not arbitrary and capricious.
Attorney General Morrisey joined this Arizona-led lawsuit with his counterparts in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.