In light of the recent increase in Delta Variant Covid cases recently, the Biden administration has decided to leave in place a public health rule that enables it to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants at the southern border. This decision comes as the total number of crossings at the southern border remain high and the pandemic seems far from over.
The decision was confirmed by the CDC on Monday. This has been somewhat of a policy change by the administration, which had been hoping to begin lifting the rule this summer, more than a year after it was imposed by the Trump administration. The C.D.C. said allowing noncitizens to come over the border from either Mexico or Canada “creates a serious danger” of further spread of the coronavirus. Critics of the rule have targeted the president with claims that the rule is only a political means of limiting immigration.
The recent spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant has bolstered the argument that the public health rule, known as Title 42, remains necessary to contain the coronavirus. The virus remains a huge threat, and given the large numbers of illegal crossings, the argument for keeping the restrictions in place has gained more traction. The ACLU has moved forward with a lawsuit in opposition to the rule, claiming that the restrictions in place have given the administration plenty of time to build back up the Asylum system.
