Subsequent Trump-Era and Court Action(s)

• October 30, 2020

  CBP COVID-19 Response: Suspension of Entries and Imports Concept of Operations

  HRF obtained internal DHS documents (via FOIA request) detailing Border Patrol practices related to the March 2020 CDC order. These practices include expelling asylum seekers without adequate screening, expelling pregnant women, expelling children, and adopting a more narrow definition of "unaccompanied minor."

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• January 29, 2021

  2020.11.18 PJES v. Wolf.

  In August 2020, ACLU, Texas Civil Rights Project, and Oxfam filed a class action suit, P.J.E.S. v. Wolf (D.D.C. 1:20-cv-02245) challenging the expulsion of unaccompanied minors under Title 42 COVID restrictions. A magistrate judge on Sept. 25, 2020 recommended the grant of a preliminary injunction and class certification. On November 18, 2020, D.D.C. granted the PI. On January 29, 2021, the D.C. Circuit granted a stay of the preliminary injunction pending appeal.

  **Litigation is listed for informational purposes and is not comprehensive. For the current status of legal challenges, check other sources.**

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• September 16, 2021

  2021.09.16 Huisha-Huisha v. Mayorkas, No. 21-100(EGS) (D.D.C., September 16, 2021).

  To the extent that the policy identified in this entry relied on Title 42, on September 16, 2021, Judge Emmet Sullivan issued a preliminary injunction to prevent U.S. border officials from using Title 42 to expel families with young children seeking asylum.

  On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted DHS’s request to stay the district court order that blocked the administration from removing migrant families under Title 42 and scheduled argument for January 2022.

  **Litigation is listed for informational purposes and is not comprehensive. For the current status of legal challenges, check other sources.**

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• March 4, 2022

  2022.03.04 Huisha Husha v. Mayorkas 21-5200 (CADC March 4, 2022)

  On March 4, 2022, the DC Circuit issued a decision in Huisha-Huisha v. Mayorkas, upholding in part the district court's September 2021 preliminary injunction. The DC Circuit held that, though "[i]t is likely that [Title 42] grants the Executive sweeping authority to prohibit aliens from entering the United States during a public-health emergency[, and] that the Executive may expel aliens who violate such a prohibition," the government may not expel noncitizens "to countries where their 'life or freedom would be threatened' on account of their 'race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion' or where they will likely face torture." The court remanded for implementation of these withholding and Convention Against Torture standards, and assessment of the plaintiff's Administrative Procedure Act arbitrary and capricious claim.

  **Litigation is listed for informational purposes and is not comprehensive. For the current status of legal challenges, check other sources.**

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