A lawsuit filed against Joe Biden’s White House by 18 Republican attorneys general seeks to keep the Trump-era Title 42 in place.
The Republican attorneys general are joining forces in a show of unified opposition to the president’s policies at the nation’s southern border with just over five weeks until the Biden administration plans to reverse Title 42.
The attorneys general of Arizona, Louisiana, and Missouri originally filed a lawsuit to prevent the administration from revoking Title 42. The New York Post announced that 18 additional state attorneys general has joined the suit. They are Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Idaho, Utah, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Alaska’s Republican Gov., Mike Dunleavy, was a strong backer of the multistate case. He said, “The Termination Order is harmful to the states charged with enforcing immigration regulations and makes no sense.”
“The policy is inconsistent with the Biden Administration’s other statements, which are entirely founded on reducing COVID-19,” he said. “However, by enforcing mandate laws requiring individuals to be vaccinated and wear masks, the administration has dismissed these facts.”
Wyoming’s Republican governor, Mike Gordon, offered a similar perspective.
“When the federal government fails to live up to its obligations, states are compelled to take legal action on behalf of their citizens in order to protect them from the consequences of this border crisis,” he went on. “Wyoming will support our fellow states in defending our borders.”
The states that have sued the Biden administration claim that Title 42’s pending demise is unlawful because it goes against the “notice-and-comments” standards required by the federal Administrative Procedures Act.
It appears, however, that not just Republicans are against the Biden administration’s plans to repeal Title 42.
With regard to Biden’s plan to eliminate Title 42, many politicians on both sides of the political aisle have spoken out against it. According to polling, it is extremely unpopular among registered voters.
According to a Morning Consult/Politico poll, 56 percent of registered voters are against the proposal, which is “the most significant disapproval of a Biden administration initiative” observed by Morning Consult since January 2021.
Joe Manchin, the maverick Democratic Senator from West Virginia, blasted the policy as “frightening” and predicted that it would lead to even more unlawful immigration.
Catherine Cortez Masto, one of Nevada’s Democratic U.S. senators, compared the Biden administration’s approach to “acting without a detailed plan.”
“This is not the correct way to do it, and the administration will be unprepared for a surge at the border,” she claimed.