Judge: COVID asylum restrictions must continue on border

NEW ORLEANS — Pandemic-related restrictions on migrants seeking asylum on the southern border must continue, a judge ruled Friday in an order blocking the Biden administration’s plan to lift them early next week. The judge cited what he said were the government’s own predictions that ending the restrictions would likely increase border crossings threefold, to as many as 18,000 daily. “The authority to set public health policy nationally should rest with the Centers for Disease Control, not with a single district court,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “Title 42 may only be used for public health purposes, but the States that brought this lawsuit appear to care only about COVID restrictions when they involve asylum seekers and are using the case as a transparent attempt to manage the border,” said Lee Gelernt.