tags: Press Releases

David Leopold Reacts to Title 42 Ruling

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Washington, DC – Today, Louisiana federal judge Robert Summerhays granted the preliminary injunction blocking the Biden Administration from lifting Title 42.

The following is a statement from David Leopold, Legal Advisor to America’s Voice, past president, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) & Immigration Group Leader, Ulmer & Berne LLP:

Keeping Title 42 perpetuates the cruel legacy of the Trump Administration, violates established law and sound science, and perpetuates a policy that as a border control measure has failed. Meanwhile, the humanitarian disaster of expelling those seeking safety back to danger continues, with uneven and discriminatory consequences for certain groups and nations.

Title 42 is a public health regulation, not an immigration policy. Upon the rise of COVID, former Trump Administration anti-immigrant policy guru Stephen Miller used Title 42 to justify dismantling the asylum system. This was a central front in the Trump – Miller war on immigrants. 

Today’s ruling also is a reminder that the anti-immigrant judicial pipeline remains strong. Trump-friendly state attorneys general and other politicians continue to find a route through Trump-friendly judges and courts and through Trump-friendly courts of appeal to thwart policy changes, sometimes appealing all the way to the Trump-friendly Supreme Court. This now-established pipeline imperils democratic policymaking and furthers the political and ideological goals of a right wing minority on immigration. 

Let’s hope that Democrats on Capitol Hill who want Title 42 to stay in place have no reason to pass proposals like the Lankford-Sinema bill – a measure that imposes such onerous conditions that it will mean the end of asylum for the foreseeable future. Aiding and abetting a Republican Party that scapegoats immigrants and refuses to denounce the replacement theory/invasion rhetoric that encourages violent terrorist attacks is no business for Democrats who support a fair, orderly and humane approach to regulating immigration.