Federal judge blocks Biden from 'paroling' migrants hours before Title 42 set to lift

WASHINGTON − A federal judge in Florida blocked a Biden administration plan to release migrants in the U.S. on "parole" because of an surge expected once an emergency immigration restriction known as Title 42 lifts.

U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell in the Northern District of Florida wrote late Thursday that a Biden administration memorandum outlining the parole policy appeared to conflict with a decision from the court in a separate case earlier this year. Wetherell, nominated by President Donald Trump, said his order would take effect at 11:59 p.m.

"The Southwest Border has been out of control for the past 2 years," Wetherell wrote. "And it is about to get worse because, at midnight tonight, the Title 42 order expires."

Because of the expected surge of migrants, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would parole certain people without what's known as a notice to appear, essentially a charging document because those documents take additional time to prepare.

"At the current operational pace, and without any additional measures ... USBP would have over 45,000 individuals in custody by the end of the month," the Department of Homeland Security told the court on Thursday. "Border Patrol is not resourced to manage the level of encounters currently occurring across the Southwest Border, and the U.S. Congress provided less than half of the $4.9 billion that DHS requested to prepare for the lifting of Title 42."

Title 42, first imposed during the Trump administration, permits the more rapid expulsion of migrants during a public health emergency − in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Biden administration lifted that public health emergency Thursday.

Biden acknowledged earlier this week that it would be “chaotic” at the border. Asked Tuesday whether the country was ready for a new surge of migrants into the U.S., Biden said his administration was doing everything it could to prepare.

"It's going to be chaotic for a while," Biden told reporters Tuesday.

The impact of Wetherell's ruling was not immediately clear. The administration was almost certain to appeal. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Supreme Court had been set to hear arguments in March in another case challenging the end of Title 42. But after the administration announced it would end the emergency, the court removed the case from its calendar.

Contributing: Maureen Groppe

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Title 42: Judge blocks Biden from 'paroling' migrants on border