CDC terminates part of Trump-era border policy

The Biden administration announced that it would be terminating part of a Trump-era border policy, specifically for unaccompanied migrant children, amid growing pressure from immigration advocates to get rid of it. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it would be abolishing Title 42, a policy that allows for migrants at the border to be turned away and stops them from being able to seek asylum, with respect to unaccompanied migrant children.

The agency said that it addressed a Texas-based federal judge’s ruling on the issue, saying in a statement “in the current termination, CDC addresses the court’s concerns and has determined, after considering current public health conditions and recent developments, that expulsion of unaccompanied noncitizen children is not warranted to protect the public health.”

“Because it is not warranted, and in recognition of the unique vulnerabilities of unaccompanied noncitizen children, CDC is immediately terminating the CDC Orders to the extent they apply to them,” the agency added.

Migrant families and single adults would still be subject to expulsion under the CDC’s latest development, according to CNN.

The CDC was referring to the ruling of Texas District Court Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, from earlier this month who argued against the Biden administration’s carve-out to its Title 42 policy for unaccompanied migrant children and would have led the way for officials to expel children.

The Biden administration had a deadline by Friday to begin expelling children or appeal the decision, CNN reported.

That judge’s ruling came hours after a separate ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which said that the Title 42 policy could continue, but that migrants could not be expelled to countries where they could suffer torture or persecution.