Corte federal autoriza al Gobierno Biden continuar expulsiones bajo Título 42 / U.S. appeals court sides with Biden, allows border expulsions of families to continue

Una corte federal de apelaciones concedió autorización temporal al Gobierno del presidente Joe Biden para continuar expulsando familias migrantes de forma expedita bajo el amparo de una disposición de salud pública aplicada por el ahora expresidente Donald Trump.

El fallo bloquea la decisión de un juez federal en el Distrito de Columbia, que dictaminó a mediados de septiembre que es ilegal negar a las familias migrantes con hijos el derecho de asilo aplicándoles una regulación destinada a proteger la salud pública, denominada Título 42.

La orden del juez federal Emmet Sullivan debía entrar en vigor este jueves.

Pero la Corte de Apelaciones del Circuito del Distrito de Columbia suspendió la orden de Sullivan, la cual hubiera requerido que el Gobierno federal procesara a todas las familias migrantes con hijos conforme a las leyes de inmigración, lo que les permite buscar asilo u otras formas de protección humanitaria.

El Gobierno de Biden ha defendido la política del Título 42, argumentando que su aplicación es necesaria para evitar brotes de covid-19 dentro de las instalaciones de detención migratoria.

En su fallo reciente, emitido en respuesta a una demanda de inmigrantes y defensores de los inmigrantes, Sullivan consideró que, teniendo en cuenta, “la amplia disponibilidad de exámenes, vacunas y otras medidas para minimizar (la pandemia), este tribunal no cree que el contagio de la covid-19, durante el trámite en la frontera, no pueda mitigarse de manera significativa”.

La aplicación de esta regulación, muy criticada por grupos de activistas y de defensa de los derechos civiles, es una de las pocas del Gobierno Trump que siguen vigentes ya con Biden en la Casa Blanca.

La suspensión a la orden de Sullivan permite al Gobierno federal continuar las expulsiones mientras continúa la demanda de los activistas.

En el año fiscal 2021, que comenzó en octubre pasado hasta el 31 de agosto, la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP) ha efectuado 1.541.651 detenciones de migrantes en la frontera sur, de los cuales 937.628 fueron expulsados bajo el Título 42.

EFE

U.S. appeals court sides with Biden, allows border expulsions of families to continue

NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday that the Biden administration can continue expelling migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under a COVID-19 pandemic order while a lawsuit challenging the policy proceeds.

The order, known as Title 42, was issued in March 2020 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under former President Donald Trump, which cited the need to limit the spread of the coronavirus. A federal judge ruled on Sept. 16 that the policy could not be applied to families but the administration of President Joe Biden appealed the ruling.

In his original ruling against the Biden administration, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that the public health law the Title 42 policy is based on does not authorize the expulsions of migrants.

Expelling asylum seekers denies them the “opportunity to seek humanitarian benefits” they are entitled to under immigration law, he wrote. The order was set to take effect on Thursday but the Biden administration appealed.

The judge’s order only applies to families and not to single adults.

“We are disappointed in the ruling but it is just an initial step in the appellate litigation, and nothing stops the Biden administration from immediately repealing this horrific Trump-era policy,” Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Biden, a Democrat, faces pressure from Republicans over the number of border arrests, which have hovered around 20-year highs. read more
A camp of nearly 15,000 Haitians in South Texas who had crossed the Rio Grande river from Mexico ramped up attention on the issue in recent days. Using the Title 42 policy, the administration rapidly expelled thousands of people – including families with small children – back to Haiti, a country that has been devastated by a political crisis and multiple natural disasters. The U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigned in protest over the expulsions.

The camp has nowcleared with several thousand other migrants still in U.S. custody awaiting processing and others released into the United States to face U.S. immigration court hearings.

Biden in February exempted unaccompanied children from the expulsion policy and his administration had been applying it to fewer families apprehended at the border in recent months. In August, the Biden administration expelled about 19% of families apprehended at the border under Title 42.

The Biden administration has said the Title 42 policy remains necessary to limit the spread of the coronavirus, although it has not provided scientific data to support that rationale.