US Supreme Court keeps Title 42 in place for now

Republican states ask to keep pandemic-era border restrictions that were set to expire this week

Central American mothers demonstrate in Mexico City to demand justice for their children who have disappeared during their transit through Mexico to the US. EPA

Migrants from Central and South America seeking asylum in the US camp out as Title 42 border restrictions continue. AFP

Thousands of migrants arrive in the Mexican city of Tijuana each year. AFP

Migrant children wait on a road after a caravan from Central America was blocked by Guatemalan authorities. Reuters

A three-year-old asylum seeker from Honduras holds her mother’s hand after crossing the Rio Grande into the US from Mexico. Reuters

Migrants await transport after arriving at the border wall in Penitas, Texas. Reuters

US Border Patrol agents speak to an unaccompanied minor from Honduras after she crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico. Getty / AFP

Migrant women and children rest at an improvised shelter in Santiago Niltepec, Oaxaca state, Mexico. AFP

A US Border Patrol officer blocks the path of a migrant trying to return to the US after having crossed into Mexico. Reuters

The US said it would increase deportation flights for thousands of migrants who entered the Texas border city of Del Rio. AFP

The US Border Patrol prevents migrants from crossing into Texas from Mexico. AFP

US Border Patrol officers bar the way to migrants trying to return to the US. Reuters

US law enforcement officers attempt to close off crossing points along the Rio Grande. AFP

US authorities attempt to close the border to stop the flow of migrants. AP

At the request of Republican officials in 19 US states, Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending a pandemic-era policy of rapidly expelling migrants caught at the US-Mexico border later this week.

Republican state officials said they had asked the Supreme Court to preserve pandemic-era border restrictions that are set to end on Wednesday, saying their termination would mean a surge of new crossings.

The last-ditch filing comes after a federal appeals court in Washington on Friday refused to keep the so-called Title 42 restrictions in force, saying the 19 states had waited too long to try to intervene in a two-year-old legal fight.

The states are asking the Supreme Court to keep the rules in place while litigation continues.

Former president Donald Trump's administration invoked Title 42 early in the pandemic to let officials turn away asylum seekers and other migrants at the border. Although Title 42 is a public-health provision, many border hawks have come to view it as a necessary tool to manage record migrant encounters.

A federal district judge struck down the restrictions in November, saying they were “arbitrary and capricious”. Immigrant families affected by the policy are challenging it.

President Joe Biden's administration has taken a nuanced stance towards the expulsion policy, appealing the district court’s order but not seeking to keep the restrictions in place in the meantime.

Border Patrol agents apprehend a group of migrants near El Paso, Texas. AFP

Taznari, a three-year-old asylum-seeking migrant girl from Honduras, holds her mother’s hand as they walk down a dirt road after crossing the Rio Grande river into the US from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas on March 16, 2021. Reuters

Taznari, an asylum-seeking migrant woman from Honduras, carries her three-year-old daughter, also named Taznari, down a dirt road near Penitas, Texas on March 16, 2021. Reuters

Sonia, an asylum-seeking migrant from Honduras, walks down a dirt road with her three children Jefferson, 9, Scarlet, 7, and David, 6, in Penitas, Texas, on March 16, 2021. Reuters

Migrants await transport as Sonia, an asylum seeker from Honduras, arrives at the border wall with her three children in Penitas, Texas. Reuters

Asylum seeking migrants from Central America await to be transported by the US Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande river into the US from Mexico on March 15, 2021. Reuters

Border Patrol agents apprehend a group of migrants near downtown El Paso, Texas, on March 15, 2021. AFP

A bus exits a US Customs and Border Protection temporary processing center after dropping off migrants in Donna, Texas, US, on March 15, 2021. Reuters

A bus exits a US Customs and Border Protection temporary processing center after dropping off migrants in Texas, US. Reuters

Republicans and some Democrats have urged Mr Biden to retain the Title 42 restrictions, while immigrants’ rights advocates decry the continuation of a policy that blocks access to asylum for many people.

US officials recorded more than two million migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal 2021, more than double the fiscal 2019 total. Title 42 was used to expel migrants more than a million times in 2021.

The Republican-led states say lifting the restrictions would require them to spend more money on law enforcement and social services. Justice Department lawyers have said the states lack standing to join the litigation.

News agencies contributed to this report