KANSAS, May 20 - TOPEKA – (May 20, 2022) – A federal court today granted a request by Kansas to block the Biden administration from implementing its plans to rescind the Title 42 public health policy regarding the southern border of the United States, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today.

Judge Robert Summerhays of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana today granted a request from Kansas and 23 other states to block the administration from terminating the Title 42 policy, which has allowed border officials to turn away migrants because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden administration had planned to lift the restrictions next Monday, and it was estimated the lifting of Title 42 could result in a surge of 18,000 migrants per day attempting to enter the United States.

The Title 42 policy was put in place in March 2020 and has been used by the Trump and Biden administrations to turn away thousands of migrants to try to keep communicable diseases out of the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had announced last month plans to rescind the policy.

“Our Kansas communities see the consequences of the Biden administration’s failure to secure our border each and every day as the cartels use the border crisis to bring more fentanyl, meth and violence into our country,” Schmidt said. “I am pleased the Court agreed that the administration failed to properly consider the impact on the states when making its decision to lift Title 42. In response to the ongoing crisis on our southern border, we will continue our efforts to hold the administration accountable for its unlawful attempts to loosen enforcement.”

Last month, Schmidt and 20 other states sued the Biden administration, resulting in today’s temporary injunction. Three additional states joined the lawsuit earlier this month.

A copy of today’s ruling in Louisiana, et al v. CDC, et al is available at https://bit.ly/3MPPms5.