Judge Blocks Joe Biden Measure Allowing Border Releases

AUTOPLAY

The measure that blocked migrants at the US-Mexico border expiredThe sanitary measure that allowed the United States to block access to its territory since the beginning of the pandemic expired on Thursday, sowing confusion on the border with Mexico and fear of a “chaotic” influx of migrants.

Agencia Efe and Sandy Huffaker / AFP

Judge Kent Wetherell blocked the measure for at least two weeks, the Government seeks to appeal.

A federal judge in Florida ordered the government of US President Joe Biden to temporarily stop a measure that would allow the release of certain undocumented immigrants entering the border while they wait for the process.

(Also: Uncertainty and chaos: this is the end of Title 42 on the US-Mexico border)

The ruling responds to a lawsuit from the Florida Government which claims that authorities were ignoring a federal law that requires immigrants entering the country illegally to be detained.

Judge Kent Wetherell blocked for at least two weeks that emergency measure from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would allow migrants in custody to be granted parole without having to appear before judicial authorities.

(Also: Colombians arrested in Mexico for selling cocaine disguised as soap)

Wetherell, appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021), made the decision on Thursday, when Title 42 that allowed the immediate expulsion of undocumented immigrants in the United States ended.

Migrants cross the Rio Grande to try to enter the United States today, in Matamoros.

Photo:

EFE/Abrahan Pineda-Jacome

The blockade follows a Border Patrol memo that proposes to allow immigrants to enter the United States for parole, which is usually reserved for cases where Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is facing overcrowding issues.

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In the throes of Title 42, migrants stranded at the Matamoros, Tamaulipas border in northern Mexico have suffered nervous breakdowns and have not stopped jumping into the Rio Grande.

The Biden Government had argued that probation may be a necessary alternative and that an order restricting it risked causing chaos and endangering border security and border officials.

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The Joe Biden Administration addressed Judge Wetherell to indicate that there continues to be a significant risk that the increase in arrivals will be large enough for these measures to be insufficient to mitigate the risk of overcrowding at border facilities.

EFE