Carr Files Suit Against Biden Administration's Termination of Immigration Deportation Requirement

ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr today filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's termination of the Title 42 public health policy, which will likely worsen an already unprecedented crisis at our nation's southern border. First introduced in March 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Title 42 allows border officials to turn away migrants due to COVID-19. Under the policy, the U.S. has removed more than 1.7 million migrants from the southern border as of February 2022. 

“In a move as hypocritical as it is dangerous, the Biden administration has declared the public health emergency over for migrants intent on entering our country illegally but not for Americans still forced to wear a mask on airplanes,” said Carr.

“Revoking Title 42 while in the midst of an unprecedented border crisis poses an immediate threat to our national security, endangers our communities and places immense burden on our law enforcement officers, and today we join a bipartisan group of elected officials who are pushing back.”

On April 1, 2022, the CDC announced the revocation of Title 42, effective May 23, 2022. In February 2022 alone, 55 percent of the total encounters at the southern border were processed for Title 42 expulsion. That same month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 164,973 migrants at the southwest border, compared to 101,099 in February 2021 and 36,687 in February 2020.

According to CBP, fentanyl trafficking during FY 2021 increased by 1,066 percent. Just recently, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned of a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events. In Georgia, fentanyl-involved overdose deaths increased by 106.2 percent from May 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021.

In filing suit, Georgia and 20 other states are asking the court to block the Biden administration from revoking Title 42. Specifically, the lawsuit asserts that the purported revocation is arbitrary and capricious and illegally bypassed notice and comment. 

In addition to Georgia, the following states have also joined in filing suit: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. The amended complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (Lafayette Division). Access a copy of the complaint  here . 

Fighting the Biden Administration's Dangerous and Unlawful Immigration Policies

Earlier this month, Carr joined two other attorneys general in filing suit against the Biden administration's dangerous and unlawful immigration policy that seeks to avoid the deportation of many illegal immigrants, including those convicted of drug trafficking, domestic assault and other criminal offenses. In August 2021, Carr joined 15 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to stop this same unlawful immigration policy, then considered Interim Guidance.

In February 2021, Carr joined 17 other attorneys general in urging the Biden administration to reverse its last-minute cancellation of Operation Talon, a nationwide U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that focuses on the removal of convicted sex offenders who are illegally present in the U.S.

In January of this year, Carr joined 15 other attorneys general in urging the Biden administration to strengthen its efforts to fight the influx of deadly fentanyl that is flooding into the country from Mexico and China.

Finally, in February, Carr also joined 13 other attorneys general in calling for the resignation of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his refusal to enforce the law and secure the border.