The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a request by nineteen Republican attorneys general to delay the end of the Title 42 border expulsions, pausing an order that declared the Trump-era policy illegal.
This eleventh-hour move comes as anticipation grew regarding the end of Title 42 on Wednesday. The attorneys general asked the court to keep in place the border policy that allows the immediate expulsion of migrants over health concerns.
Title 42 is not an immigration policy. However, Republican-led states have been trying to keep it in place because it has been effective in curbing immigration, especially at the southern border.
These 19 states were denied a request by a federal appeals court on Friday and asked the Court to temporarily block a ruling from a lower court that found that the implementation of the policy violates the law.
In an order signed by Justice John Roberts, the court asked for a response from the Biden administration by 5 p.m. eastern time Tuesday.
NEW: Roberts issues administrative stay, temporarily pausing lifting of Title 42 border restrictions while court considers GOP request for longer hold. Calls for administration response by tomorrow at 5. pic.twitter.com/75p7FPQUV2
— Greg Stohr (@GregStohr) December 19, 2022
"As required by the Supreme Court's administrative stay order, the Title 42 public health order will remain in effect at this time and individuals who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully will continue to be expelled to Mexico," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement following Roberts' order. "While this stage of the litigation proceeds, we will continue our preparations to manage the border in a safe, orderly, and humane way when the Title 42 public health order lifts."
Late Friday night, the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the states, holding that they had waited an “inordinate” amount of time before getting involved.
The ruling on Monday afternoon followed a tense weekend in El Paso, where officials expected a significant increase in the flow of migrants across the border, just as freezing weather closed in.
Oscar Leeser, the El Paso mayor, issued a seven-day emergency declaration on Saturday, citing the strain they placed on city facilities. The Texas Tribune explained on Monday that such a declaration could offer more options to shelter migrants during the cold weather.
Military forces
On Monday, before the court ruling was issued, the Texas Military Department explained to the San Antonio Express-News that it was also prepared for a new influx of border crossers.
The Department said in a statement that it planned to supplement federal personnel — presumably occupied with extra migrant processing work over the next several days — to ensure criminals would not take advantage of any gaps.
The Texas National Guard sent at least 400 troops and equipment to El Paso aboard cargo planes.
Over the weekend, Guard members in Eagle Pass stacked shipping containers to create a makeshift wall at a popular crossing area. They also set up floodlights and pointed them toward the Rio Grande.
About 6,000 Guard members were deployed along the border as of November under Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative.
'A faithful partner'
Shortly before the temporary intervention by the Supreme Court, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg issued a statement saying he had been in contact with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the weekend and was maintaining regular communications.
“The City of San Antonio is making preparations for any influx of migrants as a result of federal policy changes,” he said. “The Department of Homeland Security has been a faithful partner with the City of San Antonio, Catholic Charities and our other community organizations in fully reimbursing every amount we spend in support of legal migrants seeking asylum in the United States.”
Last week, the San Antonio City Council voted to seek pre-emptive reimbursement from the FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter program to the tune of $3 million from January to March 2023 for providing assistance to people using its Migrant Resource Center on San Pedro Avenue.
“We need Congress to continue to support FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), and we look forward to federal comprehensive immigration reform so that such efforts are not needed in the years to come,” Nirenberg said.
In nearly two years, since January 2021, the city has assisted nearly 330,000 migrants.
The city set up the resource center in July in response to an increase in arrivals to San Antonio. The center has seen more than 92,000 people use the center’s services with at least 35,000 people in November alone. People who have used the center have come from countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, and Honduras.
The vast majority of people at the center are asylum seekers who have received authorization to remain in the U.S. while their asylum case is heard.
'Safe and protected'
Without the Migrant Resource Center, San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh told the council last week there would be an uncoordinated approach for people who would be arriving in San Antonio regardless.
“Imagine in June of this year, in a decentralized fashion, we had 15, 16, 17,000 people coming. They’re either downtown, they’re either at the airport, they’re at hotels -- it’s decentralized but they’re coming through the city anyway,” Walsh said.
The center provides food, assistance with travel arrangements like plane and bus tickets, and case management provided by Catholic Charities, while the city maintains its coordination with federal authorities. It has the capacity to provide temporary shelter for 718 people on a daily basis, but on at least one day it saw more than 1,800 people use its services.
On days like that, when capacity is reached, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston told the council last week it works to expedite people getting to their destinations.
“We work with SAFD to make sure that we have fire watch initiated -- that means they're making sure the building is safe and protected -- and we also work with the airport in potentially moving people to the airport if their flight leaves 12 hours out versus the six hours out,” she said on Thursday.
