ATLANTA – Georgia has joined 19 other mostly Republican-led states in suing the Biden administration over the upcoming termination of a policy that allows border officials to turn away immigrants due to COVID-19.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, challenges a decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end enforcement of the Title 42 public health policy effective May 23. The CDC instituted the policy in March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the country.
“In a move as hypocritical as it is dangerous, the Biden administration has declared the public health emergency over for migrants intent on entering our country illegally but not for Americans still forced to wear a mask on airplanes,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Thursday.
“Revoking Title 42 while in the midst of an unprecedented border crisis poses an immediate threat to our national security, endangers our communities and places immense burden on our law enforcement officers.”
President Joe Biden announced the termination of the policy recently following pressure from immigrant advocacy groups and some Democrats.
But other Democrats have joined Republicans in criticizing the administration for rescinding Title 42 without a plan for how to handle the influx of immigrants expected to result.
The lawsuit seeks to block the administration from repealing the policy. Specifically, it asserts doing away with Title 42 is arbitrary and capricious and illegally bypassed notice and comment requirements.
Besides Georgia, states joining the suit include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Utah.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.