WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – Title 42, the immigration policy allowing asylum seekers to be turned away at the border, will remain in place for now.
The Supreme Court voted five to four to grant an emergency request by 19 states who sought to prevent Title 42 from expiring.
That decision puts on hold a ruling by a Washington-based district judge that would have ended the immigration policy last week and averts what many had predicted would be an additional surge in people seeking asylum in the United States.
The Supreme Court’s order says that while the administration cannot set aside the Title 42 policy, the decision “does not prevent the federal government from taking any action with respect to that policy.”
The justices also agreed to hear oral arguments in February and rule on whether the states can intervene with a decision due by the end of June.
Title 42 was invoked during the Trump presidency when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, giving the federal government power to take emergency action to keep diseases out of the country.
So far, more than two million people have been expelled at the border as a result.
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