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El Paso: Recently, numerous people crossed the border
Photo: JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ / REUTERS
Since its introduction under former President Donald Trump in 2020, the so-called Title 42 rule has barred hundreds of thousands of people from entering the United States.
With reference to the corona pandemic, it allows migrants to be rejected quickly at the border with Mexico.
The rule is supposed to be abolished on Wednesday, but now the Supreme Court is stepping in.
Several U.S. states have approached the Supreme Court just before scrapping the rule, saying lifting the restrictions would do them irreparable harm.
Chief Justice John Roberts then granted a short-term stay.
Now the US government has until Tuesday afternoon to comment on the urgent application from the protesting states.
El Paso declares a state of emergency
In the past few days, an unusually high number of migrants had crossed the southern US border near the border town of El Paso, Texas.
The authorities expect a further increase in view of the planned facilitation of entry.
The mayor of El Paso declared a state of emergency over the weekend due to the high number of migrants.
This gives him the opportunity, for example, to convert certain facilities into emergency shelters by ordinance.
It also enables the city to ask the state for additional staff to care for and house migrants.
Rule expires on December 21st
“Given the enormous national importance of this case, the court's review is warranted.
It is undeniable that failure to grant a stay will result in an unprecedented disaster at the southern border.
Immigration advocates, on the other hand, say that using Title 42 violates US and international obligations to people fleeing to the US to avoid persecution.
They had appealed Title 42, but a federal judge agreed in November, setting the rule's expiration date for December 21.
ptz/dpa
