More than 20 states filed a temporary restraining order on Thursday seeking to block the Biden administration from lifting Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows for the expulsion of migrants at the border and blocks them from claiming asylum.
The motion for a temporary restraining order is part of a lawsuit 21 states have filed against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in opposition to the administration’s decision to rescind the controversial policy.
The Biden administration rescinded Title 42 earlier this month, but the rule will not be lifted until May 23. It was first implemented in March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to requesting a temporary restraining order, the filing argues that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already stopped using Title 42 when migrants arrive from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, citing a report from Fox News.
The plaintiffs said the department is instead processing migrants through Title 8, which is a federal code involving immigration.
The states said the “premature implementation of the Title 42 Termination Order” means the effects the plaintiffs were trying to avoid may already be occurring.
“This premature implementation of the Title 42 Termination Order unfortunately means that the irreparable harms that the States sought to avoid through their preliminary injunction motion may already be occurring now,” the filing reads.
“Given that the enormous potential harms identified in the States’ preliminary injunction motion are likely already occurring, the States respectfully request that this Court enter a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) against any implementation of the Termination Order before its May 23 effective date, and require Defendants to continue processing migrants pursuant to Title 42 rather than Title 8,” the filing adds.
The plaintiffs also asked that DHS “report on its activities on an expedited basis so that the States can consider whether additional relief is appropriate to seek.” They are specifically requesting a declaration under oath, submitted by April 24, that explains what actions, if any, they have taken to apply the Title 42 termination.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R), one of the plaintiffs in the case, accused the Biden administration of “thumbing its nose at the American people and the rule of law.”
“Once again, the Biden Administration is thumbing its nose at the American people and the rule of law,” Brnovich said in a statement. “It cannot be allowed to continue in this recklessness.”
The attorneys general of Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming also signed on to the temporary restraining order.
The Hill reached out to the CDC for comment.