The Biden administration can no longer use a public health rule to expel migrant families crossing the Texas border without documentation if doing so would endanger them, according to a federal appeals panel ruling issued Friday. Via Houstonchron.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration can no longer use a public health rule to justify expelling migrant families who cross the border without documentation if doing so would subject them to persecution or torture, according to a federal appeals panel ruling issued Friday.
The Biden administration has kept the order in place for all migrants except children who arrive at the border without a parent or guardian. Officials have said it falls to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to decide when the rule can be lifted. The agency’s next review of the policy will be in April.
The ruling does not apply to single adult migrants — only to families arriving at the border together. But the court’s opinion could make it harder for the administration to justify that no migrant is entitled to express a fear of persecution or violence. Critics of the rule, including a number of public health experts, have said there is no public health benefit to expelling migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the United States. The appeals panel appeared to agree.