US Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order to Keep Public Health Order at Border

The White House said earlier this month that the Title 42 policy was due to end on May 23, reports Xinhua news agency. More than 20 states, led by Arizona and its Attorney General Mark Brnovich, have asked the court to block the White House's plan since then.

Washington: A judge in the US state Louisiana granted a temporary restraining order to pause the White House’s decision to roll back a public health order named ‘Title 42’, which restricts border asylums on the country’s border with Mexico due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “The parties will confer regarding the specific terms to be contained in the Temporary Restraining Order and attempt to reach agreement,” Judge Robert Summerhays wrote on Monday.

The White House said earlier this month that the Title 42 policy was due to end on May 23, reports Xinhua news agency. More than 20 states, led by Arizona and its Attorney General Mark Brnovich, have asked the court to block the White House’s plan since then.

“We applaud the Court for approving our request for a Temporary Restraining Order to keep Title 42 in place,” said Brnovich in a statement.

“The Biden administration cannot continue in flagrant disregard for existing laws and required administrative procedures.”

The judge’s order is unlikely to change the situation on the ground, given that the public health authority remains in place, but it may throw a wrench in White House’s plans moving forward, said a CNN report.

Texas also filed a separate case seeking to keep the policy in place. A federal judge in Texas has yet to rule on that case. Named for a 1940s public health law, Title 42 has authorised US border officials to rapidly expel migrants without allowing them to apply for asylum. The policy was introduced under former President Donald Trump after the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.

Since it went into effect in March 2020, migrants trying to enter the US have been turned away more than 1.7 million times. The next hearing has been set for May 13, according to local media reports.