SCOTUS leaves Title 42 in place temporarily

STORY: The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily left in place a pandemic-era order allowing U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants caught at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a 5-4 vote on Tuesday, the High Court granted a request by a group of Republican state attorneys general to put on hold a judge's decision invalidating the emergency public health order known as Title 42, while it considered whether they could intervene to challenge the ruling that 19 states have already opposed.

The states argued that lifting the policy could lead to an increase in already-record border crossings.

President Joe Biden told reporters that the Supreme Court is expected to reach a ruling on the Title 42 immigration case by June.

And in the meantime the administration would have to enforce it – but he thought ending it was overdue.

The policy was first implemented in March 2020 under Republican former President Donald Trump at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Democrat President kept the restrictions in place for more than a year after taking office in 2021 despite promising to shift away from Trump's hardline immigration policies.

In the 2022 fiscal year, which ended September 30., U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended a record 2.2 million migrants at the southwest border.

The Supreme Court said it would hear arguments over the policy in its February session.