Supreme Court Takes Emergency Action at the U.S.-Mexico Border

In an eleventh hour decision yesterday afternoon, Chief Justice John Roberts announced that the U.S. Supreme Court had placed a stay on the scheduled expiration of Title 42, for the time being delaying a flood of migrants from overwhelming the border beyond all hope of control.

As reported last night by Fox News:

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked an order that would lift Title 42, the pandemic-era health policy that has been used to deter migrants more than 2.5 million times.

The order Monday by Chief Justice John Roberts comes as cities along the U.S.-Mexico border have been scrambling to prepare for an expected influx of migrants in anticipation of Title 42's end."

My dad, ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, has had considerable experience dealing with a stay like this, and he explained exactly what's happening here:

"It's called an Administrative Stay. So I've handled dozens of these, probably more than that, at the Supreme Court. So what happens is a case goes against you in the lower court. You go to the Supreme Court of the United States, and you go hey look, Justices, while this is all pending we need to keep things as status quo, so what we want you to do is grant a stay while you determine whether you're going to hear the case. So what's happening right now is Title 42 is being implemented, they're allowed to use Title 42 while the appeal is pending."

My dad went on to read from the actual opinion from Chief Justice Roberts, and as he pointed out, Title 42 could theoretically be lifted before the day is over:

"There's three things that could happen: the Court could leave the stay in place – the Chief Justice can refer the case to the entire Court. They can leave the stay in place while they're considering what to do. They could deny the stay at that point if there's not enough . . . . You've got to get four Justices to say they want to hear a case before a case is heard. It's called the rule of four –our Justices to grant certiorari. Or they could refer it to the full Court and there could be an order in a week or two. I mean I've had a stay that's gone on for four months."

In that case, let's hope the Supreme Court takes its time. Maybe we can keep Title 42 in place a little longer. At the very least, Title 42 might have worked to hold back some illegal crossings, using COVID-19 as justification. Once Title 42 is gone, Coronavirus is only the beginning of our concerns.

Today's full Sekulow broadcast includes more analysis of the Supreme Court's surprise move to keep Title 42 in place at the border, while the Biden Administration seems content to completely obliterate our national security.