All You Need to Know About Title 42

By: Haasini Sanisetty

What is it?

Title 42 is a protocol that was put into place during the period in which Donald Trump was president. It basically says that federal officials are allowed to turn away immigrants at the border due to the risk that they might bring Covid-19 into the country. It also doesn’t give immigrants the right to apply for asylum which any non-citizen is legally allowed to apply for. 2.4 million people have been turned away from the border in the time that this order has been in place. 

What is going on currently?

The Biden administration wants to overturn Title 42 and turn to a more humane way of choosing who to let into the country instead of harshly turning people away. This issue has been brought to the Supreme Court and the order was set to be in use until December 21st by the lower court. However, this new ruling has caused that date to be overturned and pushed to later. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of keeping Title 42. The court did say that they are going to take the states’ appeals and listen to arguments starting in February. 

Immigrant advocates and public health experts say that this is no longer about protection from Covid-19, but about keeping immigrants out of the United States. Immigrants have been waiting in Mexico until the wait is over, but as the weather drops the situation becomes more dire. The Biden administration does have precautions in place for preventing a surge in immigration if the order gets lifted, and they believe that the old border system should be changed to one that better fits our times. However, they will be complying with Title 42 while the court hearings take place. 

Title 42 was put into place to combat Covid-19, but it no longer stands for that. While it isn’t plausible to completely uproot the order, it is important that we change policies so they represent their purpose and not an excuse that was put into place. 

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/27/politics/supreme-court-title-42/index.html

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-title-42-place-agreeing-hear-states/story?id=95533970

https://abcnews.go.com/US/title-42-amid-backlash-biden-administration-defends-trump/story?id=80149086

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