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Mexican Court denies move to keep COVID-19 immigration restrictions

Published:Friday | December 16, 2022 | 8:07 PM
A migrant sits by his tent inside the Senda de Vida 2 shelter in Reynosa, Mexico, Thursday, December 15, 2022. Nearly three thousand people cram inside the vast compound of tents over cement or gravel by the Rio Grande, steps from the border with the United States, and many more line up outside hoping to come in to relatively safety from the cartels that prey on migrants. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell'Orto)

REYNOSA, Mexico (AP) — An appeals court on Friday rejected efforts by conservative-leaning states to keep in place COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions on immigrants seeking asylum, while thousands of migrants packed shelters on Mexico's border.

The decision from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit means the restrictions remained on track to expire Wednesday, unless further appeals are filed.

Conservative-leaning states were pushing to keep the asylum restrictions that were put in place in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The public-health rule known as Title 42 has left some migrants biding time in Mexico. Migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum under US and international law 2.5 million times since March 2020 on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Advocates for immigrants had argued that the US was essentially abandoning its longstanding history and commitments to offer refuge to people around the world fleeing persecution, and sued to end the use of Title 42.

They've also argued the restrictions were a pretext by Trump for restricting migration, and in any case, vaccines and other treatments make that argument outdated.

Ahead of the expiration of Title 42, illegal border crossings of single adults dipped in November, according to a Justice Department court filing released Friday, though it gave no explanation for why. It also did not account for families travelling with young children and children travelling alone.

Border cities, most notably El Paso, Texas, are facing a daily influx of migrants that the Biden administration expects to grow if asylum restrictions are lifted. Republican-led states have asked a federal appeals court to keep Title 42 in plac e beyond Wednesday's scheduled end. A decision could come down to the wire.

Tijuana, the largest Mexican border city, has an estimated 5,000 people in more than 30 shelters, Enrique Lucero, the city's director of migrant affairs said this week.

In Reynosa, Mexico, near McAllen, Texas, nearly 300 migrants, mostly families, crammed into the Casa del Migrante, sleeping on bunk beds and even on the floor.

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