Arizona Attorney General warns of border chaos if law is removed: NPR

Mark Brunovich smiles while talking to people on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix.

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Mark Brunovich smiles while talking to people on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix.

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This week, the Supreme Court blocked the White House from lifting Title 42. Title 42 is a public health order issued by the Trump administration early in his COVID-19 pandemic for public health reasons. Title 42 allows Customs and Border Protection to turn migrants back at the border and try to stop the spread of the virus.

More than 2 million asylum seekers have been deported from the United States or driven out at the border since it went into effect in March 2020.This figure includes people who have made multiple attempts to enter the United States

A federal judge ruled Title 42 illegal in November and set it to end on December 21st. However, the Supreme Court suspended that sentence on December 19th. 9 days later The Supreme Court said the policy would remain in place while legal challenges were filed.

In a dissenting opinion, Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote: “The current border crisis is not a COVID crisis, nor is the court tasked with perpetuating an executive order designed for one emergency simply because elected officials failed to address another emergency. We are the courts, not the policy makers. Last resort.”

The judges are scheduled to speak when their next term begins in February.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intended to lift Title 42 in May “given the current public health situation and the increasing availability of tools to combat COVID-19.” announced in the spring that

Attorneys general from 19 Republican-led states have petitioned to keep the rule in place, saying states will be hit hard by the expected surge in immigration. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich was one of those who led the effort to keep Title 42, and he of NPR spoke to A Martinez about why it should be kept.

interview highlights

Why keep Title 42 to control immigration?

Brnovic claimed that President Joe Biden did not follow the law in revoking Title 42. This requires notice and comment to those affected by his actions.

“We tried to intervene as a state to protect our interests, but the Biden administration objected by saying they weren’t interested in the state,” he said. Whether it’s the cost of medical care, the cost of incarceration, or the cost of lives lost, every state in the United States is now a border state, and we are all concerned with ensuring safe borders. there is.”

Brnovich acknowledged that Title 42 is not “the end of everything.”

“This is not a permanent policy. .”

Why did the Supreme Court decide to leave this policy alone?

At issue in court was whether the state had the legal standing to insist on maintaining the policy, and the majority agreed that it did.

The answer to that from a constitutional perspective is yes, states will be affected, Brnovic said. “Of course, if the federal government doesn’t do its job, the states should be allowed to intervene.”

Immigrants from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico help Venezuelan children cross the Rio Grande to seek political asylum in El Paso, Texas.

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Immigrants from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico help Venezuelan children cross the Rio Grande to seek political asylum in El Paso, Texas.

Helika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images

Is Title 42 still required for public health reasons?

He argues that by imposing COVID restrictions on other countries like China, the current administration is undermining its claim to lift Title 42.

“From a legal standpoint, the president and his administration are taking action by saying there’s a pandemic. They’re literally trying to mitigate and control it,” Brnovic said. are trying to keep people from China from coming and COVID tests are negative, and they want to argue that there is still work for the government to do because of this pandemic. All we have to do is keep Title 42.”

Why not go back to Title 8, the federal immigration law that allows prosecution of illegal border crossings?

“The Biden administration is not prosecuting people for illegally entering or re-entering our country. They are literally making people apply for asylum and then releasing them to our country. A probation officer is years away,” he said. “You can look at the data on how long it will take, but it’s like an indictment on our federal immigration system, and everyone agrees it’s being broken. ”

Asylum seekers warm by a small fire while waiting to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol near the U.S.-Mexico border fence near Somerton, Arizona.

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Asylum seekers warm by a small fire while waiting to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol near the U.S.-Mexico border fence near Somerton, Arizona.

AFP via Getty Images

Why Blame Biden for the Border Crisis?

The attorney general says Biden’s policies encouraged people to try to cross the border.

“From the first day Joe Biden was sworn in, he started decriminalizing and encouraging people to enter the country illegally.” There was interim guidance that we had to sue, he stopped building the wall, taxpayers have to pay for the wall that wasn’t built. So, the ‘stay in Mexico’ policy — the list goes on and on.”

Brnovic said people all over the world are crossing the southern border and “they’re telling you, ‘I hear no Joe Biden has been charged and people can stay here.’ And the reality is that’s exactly what’s happening.”

How do you fix your system?

Brnovich said undoing the restrictions shouldn’t be a top priority.

“The first thing we have to do is actively enforce existing laws. We have to control the southern border,” he said. “And once we have that, we can start the discussion.”

He pointed to then-President Obama’s surge in 2014 to deal with the influx of immigrants to the southern border. We can stem the flow of immigration. ”

He said other countries have systems that work and could serve as a model for U.S. policy.

“I understand why people want to go to this country, but I also believe there needs to be a process,” Brnovic said. “There are countries like Canada and Australia that have immigration systems based on merit and points…if they need more nurses or gardeners in Australia, they can let people in. So I think there are other systems we can rely on and not cause chaos.

Lily Kiros and Olivia Hampton produced and edited the audio for this interview. Majd Al-Waheidi edited his story digitally.

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/30/1146060901/title-42-mark-brnovich-arizona-attorney-general-immigration-asylum Arizona Attorney General warns of border chaos if law is removed: NPR

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