“Today’s hearing was held before the Federal Judge who has already issued a Temporary Restraining Order blocking the rescission of Title 42, and he further indicated he plans to rule on the question of barring the end of Title 42 in the next 10 days.

“Everyone should be clear: it is very likely that a Federal Judge will soon take the outrageous step of barring the Biden Administration from ending Title 42, ensuring it will almost certainly stay in place through the remainder of this year. This is a result of both the Biden Administration’s wrong decision not to end Title 42 last year as well as a radical judiciary cooperating with far right state attorneys’ general to maintain inhumane and chaotic Trump-era policies. Title 42 has never been about public health and was always a backdoor effort to end the asylum system and slash legal immigration. While the Biden Administration should have repealed this unjustified policy at the beginning of the administration, there is no legitimate legal justification for denying its ability to terminate this program now.

“It is now extremely likely the Biden Administration will be forced to continue using Title 42 for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the current legislative proposal that would mandate quasi-permanent use of Title 42 is entirely the wrong approach. Not only does the current legislation not force the Administration to design and implement a plan for the end of Title 42, but by punting this situation into the future for what is likely many years, the Administration will be allowed to continue with the failed and current status quo. Members of Congress should not support legislation that would effectively end the asylum system for the foreseeable future.”