US Supreme Court Blocks Biden From Rescinding Trump-Era Title 42 Border Expulsion Policy

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from rescinding the COVID-era Title 42 expulsion policy on the US southern border, a court filing revealed.

"The application for stay pending certiorari presented to the Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is granted ... the stay shall terminated upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court," the Supreme Court said in a filing on Tuesday.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich welcomed the ruling, saying his office had led the charge to prevent the Biden administration from overturning the policy.

"The safety of American families is NOT expendable to political expediency," Brnovich said via Twitter.

The ruling came down to a 5-4 vote in response to a emergency request earlier submitted by 19 Republican state attorney generals. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch had joined the three liberals on the high court's bench.

Gorsuch slammed the ongoing litigation in his dissent, noting that "the current border crisis is not a COVID crisis. And courts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency."

"We are a court of law, not policymakers of last resort," he underscored.

In addition to the stay, the court detailed it will move to hear arguments in February on whether Republican-leaning states can intervene in the ongoing litigations.

The White House has stated that it will comply with the court order, but that it will also "prepare for court's review."

Echoing Gorsuch's remarks, however, the White House similarly noted in a release that "Title 42 is a public health measure, not an immigration enforcement measure, and it should not be extended indefinitely."

"To truly fix our broken immigration system, we need Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform," reads a statement issued by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Title 42 effectively gives the federal government the power to take any emergency action to keep diseases from spreading nationwide, such as was the case during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic under the Trump administration. Under the policy, over 2 million people have been expelled. However, as of late, Republican lawmakers have fought to use the legislation to clamp down on asylum-seekers at the US-Mexico border.

The Biden administration last week filed an appeal to the US Supreme Court, requesting that it deny a bid from several Republican states to keep in place Title 42. The policy was due to expire on December 21, but the US Supreme Court decided to hear last-minute arguments by the Biden administration.

A Sputnik correspondent reported that the US government is setting up a new tent facility camp in El Paso, Texas, which is near the US-Mexico border and currently a hot spot where tens of thousands of asylum-seeking migrants have trekked over the border illegally in recent weeks.