Immigrants keep warm by a fire at dawn after spending the night outside next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence on December 22, 2022 in El Paso, Texas.
John Moore | Getty Images
The Supreme Court on Thursday canceled upcoming arguments on a case challenging the Biden administration’s decision to end the Trump-era immigration policy on asylum seekers known as Title 42.
The move came a week after the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to remove the case from its docket. The case, which is being pursued by a group of Republican attorneys general, had been scheduled for oral arguments on March 1.
The Supreme Court, in its docket entry Thursday, noted that the case had been “removed” from the current argument calendar. The docket did not reflect the reason for the decision, nor did it indicate if the case could still be argued at a later date.
Title 42 allowed the United States to deport migrants seeking asylum more quickly than normally permitted. The policy was implemented in March 2020 under the administration of then-President Donald Trump in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Human rights groups and many health experts criticized Title 42. They said claims of public health concerns were being used as a cover to conduct arbitrary mass deportations at the southern border.
So far, more than 2 million migrants have been deported under Title 42. Most of the deportations have occurred at the border with Mexico.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order on Title 42 says the policy should end when the declaration of a public health emergency from the pandemic expires.
The Biden administration has said the emergency will end on May 11. The DOJ argued to the Supreme Court that the decision renders moot the case seeking to maintain Title 42.
President Donald Trump speaks during his visit to a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Otay Mesa, California, September 18, 2019.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
A federal judge, who was hearing a lawsuit filed by asylum seekers, ruled last fall that Title 42 violated federal law because it was “arbitrary and capricious.”
The GOP attorneys general then sought to intervene in the case to defend the policy. The Supreme Court in December said Title 42 had to remain in place as it considered whether the states had the legal standing to intervene in the case.