Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the change late Friday night. They stated that “expulsion of unaccompanied children who are not citizens is not justified to protect the public’s health.”
This change was made shortly before a court order that would have allowed the Biden administration expel unaccompanied children who sought asylum under Title 42 authority. Title 42 was established in March 2020 to stop COVID-19 spreading. For adults and their families travelling with children, the order is still in effect.
The CDC stated that testing and other preventive measures allow children to travel alone to be released to sponsors in America. Sponsors are usually close family members.
In a Texas lawsuit, a federal judge ruled that the CDC had failed to adequately explain why children who traveled alone were exempt from Title 42. The administration was given a week to appeal. The CDC instead lifted the order, but only for unaccompanied children.
The Associated Press left a message on the phone for Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, and sent an email. The Associated Press did not receive an immediate response.
Title 42, which is named after a 1944 law on public health, has seen more than 1.6 million migrants expelled. Biden kept the order in effect, but exempted unaccompanied kids during his first days as president.
Advocate groups and prominent Democrats have been pushing to end Title 42 for all immigrants. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat tweeted that “It’s not a humane and effective solution to securing the border.”
