Title 42 expulsion

A Title 42 expulsion is the removal by the U.S. government of a person who had recently been in a country where a communicable disease was present. The extent of authority for contagion-related expulsions is set out by law in 42 U.S.C. § 265. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the Trump administration used this provision to generally block land entry for many migrants. This practice was initially continued by the Biden administration^[2] before the program was terminated with the end of the COVID-19 national emergency on May 12, 2023. Title 42 of the United States Code includes numerous sections dealing with public health, social welfare, and civil rights, but, in the context of immigration, the phrase "Title 42" came to be used to refer specifically to expulsions under section 265.

The program allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to prohibit the entry of persons who potentially pose a health risk by being subject to previously announced travel restrictions or by unlawfully entering the country to bypass health-screening measures.^[3][4][5] Persons subject to the order are not held in congregate areas for processing and are instead immediately expelled to their country of last transit.^[4] If they are unable to be returned to the country of last transit (because that country will not accept them due to their nationality), CBP will work with its interagency partners to expel the person to their country of origin.^[4] In some cases, this is not possible, and migrants may be expelled to a third country that will accept them based on previous residency.^[6] Expulsions under Title 42 are not based on immigration status and are tracked separately from immigration.^[4] At the discretion of the presidential administration, Title 42 can be used even for people who would normally have temporary protected status based on their country of origin.^[7]

The CDC's policy under Title 42 was unenforceable from November 15, 2022, when D.C. federal judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that the policy is a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act,^[8] until December 19 when the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts, issued a temporary hold on Sullivan's ruling,^[9] followed by the full court in a 5–4 vote on December 27.^[10]

In the days preceding the policy's repeal on May 11, 2023, the number of migrants crossing the border increased.^[11] To mitigate the potential surge in border crossings following the end of Title 42, the federal government implemented new rules for incoming migrants at the US-Mexico border. These new rules bar from the United States those who attempt to enter illegally for five years if they do not qualify for asylum.^[11] The new rule also presumes that migrants are ineligible for asylum if they did not arrive at a legal port of entry or if they passed through other countries first without seeking asylum.^[11] This policy has contributed to a decline in both 'gotaways' and border encounters as those who are apprehended are subject to stricter rules upon removal from the United States if they were to attempt to reenter.