More red states join lawsuit to stop Biden from revoking Title 42

Eighteen Republican attorneys general have joined a lawsuit seeking to force Joe Biden’s White House to keep the Trump-era Title 42 in place.

With just over five weeks until the Biden administration plans to roll back Title 42, the Republican attorneys general are locking arms in a display of unified opposition to the administration’s policies at the country’s southern border.

The suit to stop the administration from revoking Title 42 was originally filed by the attorneys general of Arizona, Louisiana, and Missouri. On Friday, the New York Post reported that attorneys general from 18 other states joined the suit. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Alaska’s Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy enthusiastically backed the multi-state suit. He said, “The Termination Order is detrimental to the states tasked with enforcing immigration standards, and it is not logically appropriate.”

He added, “This policy runs contrary to the Biden Administration’s other declarations because it is expressly premised on the decrease of COVID-19, but the Administration has ignored these facts by enforcing mandatory vaccination and mask mandates.”

Wyoming’s Republican Governor Mike Gordon expressed a similar sentiment.

He said, “When the federal government does not fulfill its responsibilities, states are compelled to take legal action to protect their residents from the impacts of this border crisis. Wyoming will stand by our fellow states to protect our borders.”

The states that are suing the Biden administration argue that Title 42’s pending termination is illegal because it violates the “notice-and-comments requirements” that are a crucial part of the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

However, it appears that not only Republicans oppose the Biden administrations plans to revoke Title 42.

Politicians on both sides of the political aisle have publicly opposed Biden’s plan to nix roll back Title 42 as polling indicates how unpopular the move is among registered voters.

According to this Morning Consult/Politico poll, 56% of registered voters oppose the move marking “the largest backlash against a Biden administration policy” tracked by Morning Consult since January of 2021.

West Virginia’s maverick, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin criticized the policy as a “frightening decision” and warned that it will cause even more illegal immigration.

One of Nevada’s Democratic Senators, Catherine Cortez Masto, likened the Biden administration’s strategy to “acting without a detailed plan.”

She said, “This is the wrong way to don this and it will leave the administration unprepared for a surge at the border.”