Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday was unhappy with a Supreme Court’s decision to keep in place, for now, Title 42 policy, a public health measure used to deport migrants from the United States due to COVID-19.
The controversial order, which was about to expire, was put in place by the U.S. CDC at the height of COVID-19 in 2020 and has remained in place despite vaccines and therapeutics to beat the disease.
The Supreme Court intervened because thousands of migrants have been amassing along the Southern border waiting for the policy to expire to enter the United States and apply for asylum.
Republicans in 19 states had asked the apex court to keep Title 42 in place, warning that lifting it would unleash a wave of migrants inside the United States.
In a way, Title 42 highlights the failure of the United States to come up with a long-term solution to immigration. All presidents, both Democrats and Republicans, have failed to forge a lasting solution to the crisis.
In reaction to the court’s decision, President Biden said that the policy, not an immigration enforcement measure, should not be extended indefinitely, and that his administration continues to advance preparations to manage the border in a secure, orderly, and humane manner.
He wrote, “The Supreme Court’s order today keeps the current Title 42 policy in place while the Court reviews the matter in 2023. We will, of course, comply with the order and prepare for the Court’s review.
“At the same time, we are advancing our preparations to manage the border in a secure, orderly, and humane way when Title 42 eventually lifts and will continue expanding legal pathways for immigration.
“Title 42 is a public health measure, not an immigration enforcement measure, and it should not be extended indefinitely.
“To truly fix our broken immigration system, we need Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform measures like the ones President Biden proposed on his first day in office.
“Today’s order gives Republicans in Congress plenty of time to move past political finger-pointing and join their Democratic colleagues in solving the challenge at our border by passing the comprehensive reform measures and delivering the additional funds for border security that President Biden has requested.”