US ACLU Renew Battle Over Policy Allowing Migrants to Be Turned Away at Southern Border

© AP Photo / Eugene Garcia

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Justice Department and the rights advocate American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have renewed a legal battle over the Biden administration's use of a Trump-era public health policy that allows asylum-seeking migrants to immediately be turned away at the US southern border, a court filing revealed on Monday.

"The parties’ discussions attempting to resolve or narrow the dispute in this case have reached an impasse. The parties, therefore, seek to resume litigation on Plaintiffs’ motions for class certification and classwide preliminary injunction," the Justice Department and ACLU said in a joint court filing.

The ACLU is trying to block the Title 42 policy, which authorizes US immigration enforcement to immediately "expel" migrants at the southern border due to concerns they may have the coronavirus. US officials recently said there are no changes to announce regarding the policy.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows that Border Patrol agents encountered 188,829 undocumented migrants on the US southern border in the month of June, bringing the total number of apprehensions in the region since October to 1.1 million. As of October, 751,844 migrants have been turned away at the US southern border under the Title 42 policy, according to CBP data.

The number of monthly apprehensions on the southern border for July is expected to surpass the June total as larger groups of migrants are arriving more frequently.

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