ROLL CALL – The Justice Department told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the Biden administration’s plans to let COVID-19 public health emergencies expire in May would make it unnecessary for the justices to decide a case related to a pandemic-era border expulsion policy.
In a filing, the DOJ said that expiration would also mean the end of the so-called Title 42 border policy, in place since March 2020, which allows border agents to rapidly expel migrants who cross the border without considering their asylum claims.
The end of the border policy — which is at the center of the high court case — “would render this case moot,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote.
Given that, the government said it would be “appropriate” for the Supreme Court to send the case back down to the lower court for it to be dismissed.
As it stands, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a group of Republican-led states may join a lawsuit in Washington and defend the border rule from a legal challenge.
Earlier in the case, a district court judge found that the border policy was issued illegally and ordered it terminated.
If the justices decide to let the states join the case, it could tee up further battles in the lower courts over the legality of the border rule.
Oral argument is scheduled for March 1, and a decision would be expected by the conclusion of the term at the end of June.
The government’s position, which it also told a federal appeals court Monday in separate related litigation, marks the latest ripple in the ongoing legal saga over the Title 42 border policy.
House Republicans have contested the Biden administration’s assertion that the end of the public health emergency would mean the Title 42 policy would have to end …
