(NEW YORK) — An Alabama judge has partially blocked the state’s gender-affirming trans youth care ban.
S.B. 184, the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, states that anyone who provides gender-affirming care to anyone under 19 could be convicted of a felony and face up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Judge Liles Burke blocked part of the Alabama law that banned prescriptions for gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormones, as the case is litigated.
He left in place other parts of the law, including the ban on gender-affirming surgeries that physicians say are already banned.
Burke will also allow the provision that requires school officials to tell parents if a minor discloses they are transgender.
The ban went into effect on May 8 and left physicians and families across the state rushing to figure out how best to provide care for their young transgender patients before the ban took place.
“It was a scramble, trying to gather as many names as possible of the kids that we see in our clinic and make sure that they do have refills called in before the law took effect,” pediatric endocrinologist Hussein Abdul-Latif told ABC News.
Burke held a two-day hearing before the ban went into effect to hear from doctors, researchers, families and more about the legislation and its impact.
Many at the hearing pointed out that the legislation is riddled with misinformation about hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery.
The claims made in the legislation — including the falsehood that hormone and puberty blockers have negative health impacts or cause infertility in trans youth — have been debunked by physicians who spoke to ABC News, as well as researchers at Yale University and the University of Texas Southwestern.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), alongside other LGBTQ advocacy groups, is suing Gov. Kay Ivey, alongside the state attorney general, in opposition of the trans care ban.
“A state cannot criminalize parents and doctors for following medical guidelines and providing needed medical treatments,” NCLR Senior Staff Attorney and Transgender Youth Project Director Asaf Orr said in a statement on the lawsuit.
Orr continued, “This is a blatantly unconstitutional bill that will cause enormous stress and harm to Alabama families and cost Alabama taxpayers millions of dollars to defend.”
Ivey’s office did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
A similar law was halted in Arkansas last year when a federal judge issued an injunction.
(WASHINGTON) — Hundreds of pro-abortion rights protests are planned nationwide Saturday in the wake of a bombshell leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that indicated the court’s conservative majority could soon overturn Roe v. Wade.
Women’s March and Planned Parenthood are among the organizations behind more than 450 demonstrations nationwide, which are anticipated to draw hundreds of thousands of people.
Washington, D.C., is expected to be the site of the largest turnout, with 17,000 people anticipated to gather on the grounds of the Washington Monument, according to a permit issued by the National Park Service to Women’s March.
“Losing the right to abortion has consequences. Women will pay the price,” Women’s March executive director Rachel O’Leary Carmona said in a statement. “We can stop this tragedy, and the time is now.”
The “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally, which kicked off at noon, will be followed by a march to the U.S. Supreme Court at 2 p.m. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will be among the rally’s speakers, according to the permit. There will also be a performance from musician Toshi Reagon, organizers said.
A counter-protest is also being organized by Students for Life that is scheduled to begin at noon Saturday at the Washington Monument and also march to the Supreme Court.
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Austin are also expected to have large turnouts for “Bans Off Our Bodies” demonstrations.
A rally organized by the Women’s March Foundation at the Los Angeles City Hall will feature speakers including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass and the attorney and women’s rights advocate Gloria Allred, according to organizers.
The demonstrations join recent protests by abortion rights activists — and some anti-abortion protesters — following the leak of the draft SCOTUS decision on the Mississippi case that challenges Roe, the landmark decision that has guaranteed a woman’s right to abortion for nearly 50 years.
Amid the demonstrations, an eight-foot-high fence was erected at the Supreme Court last week.
The high court is expected to rule publicly on the case in question — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — by the end of June.
A majority of Americans believe Roe should be upheld, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll. But if Roe is overturned, at least 26 states would either ban abortion or severely restrict access to it, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization.
This week, Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have enshrined abortion rights into federal law. The legislation failed in the Senate 49-51, lacking the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP-led filibuster.
President Joe Biden condemned Senate Republicans for failing to act “at a time when women’s constitutional rights are under unprecedented attack — and it runs counter to the will of the majority of American people.”
Ahead of the planned protests, House Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi gathered Friday to call on the justices to defend abortion access.
“Americans are marching and making their voices heard,” Pelosi said. “Public sentiment is everything. We will never stop fighting for patients and their health care.”
(NEW YORK) — The first case against a member of the Russian military is set to go to trial on May 18. 21-year-old Russian serviceman Vadim Shishimarin is accused of killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian in the Sumy region on Feb. 28, according to Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor general.
The civilian was a resident of Chupakhivka who was riding a bike on the roadside when he was shot, Venediktova alleged.
Shishmarin is charged with murder and two counts of robbery. He surrendered to Ukrainian law enforcement on the same day and has been a prisoner of war since, Ukrainian prosecutor Andriy Syniuk said.
Shishmarin’s lawyer and a public defender, Viktor Ovsiannikov, refused to disclose his strategy, but said the fact the soldier was following orders does not legally constitute a defense. It’s up to the judges whether to take that under consideration.
The length of the trial will depend on how the defendant will plead, but the prosecution has sufficient proof regardless, Syniuk told ABC News.
Syniuk also said Shishmarin has cooperated throughout the investigation.
Shishimarin is the first member of the Russian military to be facing a criminal trial, Venediktova said in a post on Facebook.
Prosecutor Andriy Syniuk told ABC News that trying this case should set the standard and prove that Ukraine is a country with a rule of law and respect for human rights. He said this case is important and that more hearings will be starting soon.
Three other people are involved in these crimes, but Shishmarin is the only one facing charges for now, according to the prosecutor.
ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko contributed to this report.
(DALLAS) — The shooting of three Korean women in a hair salon in the city’s Koreatown on Wednesday afternoon could be hate motivated, Dallas police said, and may be linked to a series of recent shootings at Asian run businesses in the city.
The shooting victims at the Hair World Salon in a historically Asian district were all Korean women — the salon owner, an employee and a customer, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The women suffered nonfatal injuries and were transported to a local hospital, according to police.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said at a press conference on Friday that initially police “did not have any indication that this crime was hate motivated,” but as of Friday afternoon, “that just changed.”
Garcia said that amid the investigation, law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be connected” and the suspect in each incident was driving a similar vehicle.
On 5/11/22 at 2:20 p.m. 3 female victims were shot at the World Salon on Royal Ln. The suspect is described as a Black male 5’7” to 5’10” thin build with curly hair and beard. Contact Detective T. Johnston at 214.671.3523 or timothy.johnston@dallascityhall.com if you have info. pic.twitter.com/gZ81P62BN7
The Dallas Police Department released a security camera image Thursday of the assailant dressed all in black running from the salon following the 2 p.m. shooting. The man appeared to be holding a semiautomatic rifle with an extended magazine clip.
Police said they learned from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked what appeared to be “a dark color minivan-type vehicle” on Royal Lane and then walked across the parking lot into the establishment and allegedly opened fire as soon as he entered the salon.
“The suspect then fired multiple rounds inside the business, wounded all three victims,” police said.
Police also released a security image of a maroon minivan they said the gunmen fled the scene in. The gunman was described by police as 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-10, thin with curly hair and a beard.
Garcia said that the shooting at the salon may be linked to a shooting that happened a day before and one that took place last month.
Police learned from witness reports that on April 2 a driver in a red minivan drove past a strip mall of Asian run businesses and fired shots at three businesses, but no one was injured.
And on Tuesday a suspect in a burgundy van or car drove by and shot into Asian run businesses near 4849 Sunnyvale Street, but no one was injured.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have reached out to our partners to make them aware of the possible connection and ask for their assistance,” Garcia said. “This includes the FBI and member agencies of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. We are also working with North Texas police partners to determine if this criminal action has or is taking place in their jurisdictions.”
Garcia said that police will be increasing the presence of high visibility patrol officers in areas in the city where there are large Asian American populations.
“We are turning to every resident of the city of Dallas to keep an eye out and safeguard our city,” Garcia said. “Hate has no place here.”
These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of attacks targeting Asian Americans across the nation, which spiked amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The possibility that we are dealing with a violent gunman who is motivated by hate is chilling and deeply disturbing,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement on Friday.
“And I want our Asian American community – which has appallingly faced increased vitriol in recent years – to know that the city of Dallas and the people of Dallas stand with them,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — Federal regulators warned months ago of potential problems at a manufacturing plant for baby formula, according to documents and a public timeline of the events, raising questions about whether more could have been done sooner by the government to address operational issues and prevent a nationwide shortage.
Inspection reports by the Food and Drug Administration, as well as a 34-page whistleblower report from a former employee of Abbott Laboratories, suggest the FDA first became aware last fall of suspected sanitation issues at an Abbott facility in Sturgis, Michigan. But it wasn’t until mid-February after the agency detected deadly bacteria inside the plant, that Abbott issued a voluntary recall – a drastic move that syphoned off a significant portion of the nation’s supply.
Months after that, concerns still remain about what is taking so long to get the facility running again safely, as families scramble for access to formula.
“We know there have been questions about the timeline,” the FDA said in a statement released Friday. “However, this remains an open investigation with many moving parts. We are continuing to investigate and will continue to update you as information becomes available. Once the immediate risk to the public has been addressed, we will conduct a review and, as outlined in our recently released Foodborne Outbreak Response Improvement Plan, we will build in performance measures across the FDA’s foods program to better evaluate the timeliness and effectiveness of outbreak and regulatory investigation activities.”
For its part, Abbott said it has been working to resolve the FDA’s concerns and, subject to federal approval, could restart operations at the Michigan plant within two weeks.
Abbott says there is no evidence its products contributed to the cases of two infant deaths.
“We are confident that we can continue to produce safe, high-quality infant formula at all of our facilities as we have been doing for millions of babies around the world for decades,” the company said.
Here’s what to know about the timeline of the agency investigation.
September 2019: The FDA conducts an inspection of the Sturgis plant, with one infraction on testing.
Sept. 20, 2021: The FDA conducts an inspection of the plant, noting that personnel working directly with formula didn’t properly wash their hands when needed and didn’t change gloves after touching “non-food” contact surfaces.
“You did not maintain a building used in the manufacture, processing, packing or holding of infant formula in a clean and sanitary condition,” the FDA concludes in its September 2021 report.
On the same day that FDA inspectors are inside the Sturgis plant, the Minnesota Department of Health alerts the agency that an infant was sickened by a bacteria called Cronobacter sakazakii after drinking formula produced in the Sturgis plant. Investigators later, however, do not find a substantive link between the plant’s formula and the child’s illness.
Oct. 20, 2021: In a 34-page document, a whistleblower at the plant alleges to the FDA that Abbott has been releasing untested infant formula, hiding information during past FDA audits and imposing lax cleaning practices. None of these claims have been independently verified. According to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, who later releases the whistleblower report, the FDA interviews that person in late December.
Feb. 1, 2022: The FDA collects samples at the plant that confirm the presence of the dangerous Cronobacter bacteria and cite several violations, according to an inspection report.
Feb. 17, 2022: The FDA says it is investigating reports of four illnesses in three states, including one baby who died. Abbott announces a voluntary recall of potentially affected products, including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare powdered formulas manufactured in its Sturgis facility.
Feb. 28, 2022: The FDA announces a second death and Abbott expands its recall.
ABC News’ Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As North Korea rattles its foreign rivals by escalating shows of firepower, the coronavirus could be attacking the Hermit Kingdom from within.
In a rare admission this week, North Korean state media announced its first COVID-19 cases, including six deaths from the virus and an additional 350,000 infections since April (although experts say those figures are likely much higher.)
After insisting for more than two years that the country was untouched by the global pandemic, its leader Kim Jong Un locked down all cities and counties as part of a “maximum emergency” response, and was spotted wearing a mask for the first time.
Despite the outbreak, North Korea test launched three short-range ballistic missiles this week—evidence of Pyongyang’s commitment to expanding its military arsenal and hardening stance against the West.
While the country has ramped up its nuclear weapons program, its health care system remains under-resourced and ill-equipped to handle an influx of patients. According to the World Health Organization, it’s one of only two countries that has yet to start a COVID-19 vaccine campaign.
Pyongyang has declined assistance even from its close allies, like China, so offers to share vaccines from its sworn enemies are all but certain to prove futile.
The State Department confirmed the U.S. has no plans to give doses to North Korea, but a spokesperson told ABC News “we strongly support and encourage the efforts of U.S. and international aid and health organizations in seeking to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19.”
The spokesperson added that should COVAX — a global initiative to which the U.S. has pledged to donate over 1 billion doses by the end of next year — decide to allocate vaccines to North Korea, the department would support the decision.
However, Pyongyang has yet to accept a single shot from COVAX.
“We urge the DPRK (North Korea) to work with the international community to facilitate the rapid vaccination of its population,” the spokesperson added.
In addition to vaccines, North Korea is believed to lack adequate testing capabilities and anti-viral treatments to treat COVID-19. Its isolation also means it’s likely that very few of its citizens have been previously infected and recovered, giving them some level of immunity.
The capital city hosted a massive military parade late last month that could have contributed to the virus spreading.
President Joe Biden is slated to travel to South Korea and Japan next week, his first trip to the region since entering office. Both North Korea’s nuclear provocations and the added instability the coronavirus might bring to country are likely to be top items on the agenda.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke over the phone with his newly appointed counterpart in South Korea on Friday. According to a readout provided by the State Department, both officials condemned North Korea’s latest missile launches. The South Korean Foreign Ministry also said they discussed the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday defended his administration’s response to an ongoing baby formula shortage that has triggered public outcry from parents, lawmakers and drawn Republican fire.
“There’s nothing more urgent we’re working on than that right now, and I think we’re going to be making some significant progress very shortly,” Biden said from the White House at an event that had been meant to tout public safety funding — reflecting how the lack of formula has quickly overtaken other administration concerns.
Biden dismissed growing criticism that the White House was too slow to respond to the nationwide shortage that had been building for months, telling reporters, “If we had been better mind readers, I guess we could’ve, but we moved as quickly as the problem became apparent to us.”
Complaints from families grew increasingly desperate this week as they encountered more empty shelves, with an estimated 43% of formula products out of stock as of Sunday at stores across the U.S., according to tracking firm Datasembly.
Biden on Friday reiterated the efforts already announced by the White House to alleviate supply issues, including expanding access to baby formula for recipients of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (also known as WIC) and a new government website to provide information to caregivers.
Biden also he believes more formula could be getting on the shelves “in a matter of weeks or less” as the Food and Drug Administration scrambles to find a way to relax restrictions in order to allow more formula to be imported from abroad.
The FDA is expected to detail their plan for imports next week. It remains unclear how the imports would work given the agency’s requirements on formula packaging and vitamin content, though Commissioner Robert Califf tweeted Friday that the agency will ensure imported products meet “certain safety, quality and labeling standards.”
“We have to move with caution as well as speed because we got to make sure what we are getting is in fact first-rate products,” Biden said. “That’s why the FDA has to go through the process.”
The shortage — compounded by broader, coronavirus-related supply chain issues — was worsened by a recall from Abbott, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of baby formula products.
The company pulled three of its popular brands in February and closed its plant in Sturgis, Michigan, in the wake of bacterial infections linked to two infants who died after consuming Abbott formula and a Food and Drug Administration inspection that documented problems at Abbott’s Michigan facility, including the same bacteria.
(Abbott maintains there is no evidence its products were connected to the babies’ deaths, though it has acknowledged the infractions the FDA found elsewhere at the plant.)
A complaint against Abbott was first filed in September, but the FDA didn’t investigate the plant until approximately four months later.
Republicans haven’t missed a beat in laying the blame on the Biden White House, holding a press conference on Thursday to speak out on the issue.
“This is not a Third World country,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and a new mother, said at the press event. “This should never happen in the United States.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the shortage in his own floor speech on Thursday, calling it “outrageous and unacceptable.”
“It seems that while President Biden’s administration and the FDA … have been asleep at the switch in terms of getting production back online as fast as possible,” he argued.
Meanwhile, the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill is launching their own investigations. The House Oversight Committee is demanding records from four major formula manufacturers.
“We have asked for a briefing by the end of the month, and we’ve asked three basic questions: Do they have the supply to meet the demand? Is there a supply chain problem that can be corrected? And what can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?” Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., told ABC News.
A group of 32 Senate Democrats on Friday wrote a letter urging the Infant Nutrition Council of America — an association of formula manufacturers — to take “immediate action” to address the shortage, though they didn’t offer any specific steps the group can or should implement.
“We are calling on you and your member companies to take immediate action and ensure that infant formula manufacturers are making every effort to mitigate this dangerous shortage and get children the nourishment they need,” the lawmakers wrote.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., announced Wednesday her panel would examine the Abbott plant in Michigan, where the bacteria was found, and the “FDA’s delayed response to this horrific incident.”
DeLauro released a whistleblower complaint last month showing a former employee of Abbot detailed concerns about alleged wrongdoing at the facility.
Abbott said it could restart operations at its Michigan facility within two weeks of getting the green light from the FDA. From there, the company estimates it would take an additional six to eight weeks to get the product into stores.
But the FDA said Friday that Abbott’s plant still carried contamination risks as of March.
“The plant remains closed as the company works to correct findings related to the processes, procedures, and conditions that the FDA observed during its inspection of the facility from January 31 – March 18, 2022, which raised concerns that powdered infant formula produced at this facility prior to the FDA’s inspection carry a risk of contamination,” an FDA official said.
Abbott says they are working to address the FDA’s issues so they can resume operations.
“We are confident that we can continue to produce safe, high-quality infant formula at all of our facilities as we have been doing for millions of babies around the world for decades,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty, Mariam Khan, Molly Nagle and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
Outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki delivered an emotional farewell from the briefing room podium Friday afternoon — expressing thanks to President Joe Biden, her administration colleagues and even the White House press corps.
Looking back at the last 15 months and 244 briefings, Psaki said she was “very nervous” when she first visited the Bidens in Delaware in November 2020, saying the majority of that conversation was about “the importance of returning integrity, respect, and civility to the White House.”
After bringing back the daily press briefings that grown heated and then mostly disappeared under the Trump administration, Psaki appeared to relish good-natured sparring with reporters while consistently defending Biden administration policy, making her a favorite target of Fox News hosts and even former President Donald Trump.
“The small sliver of – of my job here in engaging with all of you, that doesn’t – not mean that we have let our Irish side show, mine and the president’s as well, from time to time. I recognize that. But on my best days, and as I look back, and when I look back, I hope I followed the example of integrity and grace that they have set for all of us, and do set for all of us every day.”
Thanking some of the senior administration officials, as well as her press shop, Psaki said she was “very grateful to them,” and countered those she said label Washington as “rotten” and “corrupt.”
“People always ask me, and I’m sure you guys get asked this too, about whether Washington is rotten,” she said to the reporters. “You know, whether everybody is corrupt here and you know nothing good happens, and we all just argue with each other. And I, having done this job, believe the absolute opposite is true, because I have worked with and engaged with all of these incredible people across the administration and this amazing team, many of whom are here that I get to work with every day.”
NEW: Press sec. Jen Psaki delivers emotional remarks to reporters at final White House press briefing.
“At times we have disagreed. That is democracy in action. That is it working. Without accountability, without debate, government is not as strong.” https://t.co/hi29tu0lxMpic.twitter.com/3nTASwbaMC
Psaki is being succeeded by her deputy, Karine Jean-Pierre, who now becomes the first Black and openly gay woman to hold the job.
She has often said she regrets once getting a stern letter of reprimand from a government ethics watchdog for politicking from the podium.
Wrapping up her statement, Psaki turned to the White House reporters she said “challenged” and “pushed me” throughout her time in the high-pressure role.
“You have debated me. And at times we have disagreed. That is democracy in action. That is it working,” she said. “Without accountability, without debate, government is not as strong. And you all play an incredibly pivotal role, thank you for what you do. Thank you for making me better. And most importantly, thank you for the work every day you do to make this country stronger.”
Psaki, who has two young children and came down twice with COVID, has not confirmed reports she will be joining MSNBC.
(NEW YORK) — A 1-year-girl was released from a New York hospital Friday nearly four months after she was shot in the face.
Catherine, whose mother described her as “our beautiful miracle baby,” was initially hospitalized in critical condition at NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital following the Jan. 19 shooting in the Bronx.
Since February, she has been hospitalized at Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, Westchester County, for extensive rehabilitation to relearn how to walk, talk and eat. She walked out of the hospital while holding her parents’ hands to cheers from hospital staff and officers from the New York Police Department and the Westchester County Police Department.
“Our journey has been long, but finally, this is the light at the end of the tunnel,” her mother, Miraida Gomez, told reporters while holding Catherine outside the hospital.
“We’re definitely happy, we’re eager to start this new chapter in our life, and just happy that everyone is able to witness a miracle,” she said.
Catherine was struck by a stray bullet days before her first birthday while in a parked car with her mother outside a grocery store, waiting for her father who was inside the store, police said.
A man chasing another man fired two shots, hitting the baby in the face, police said.
Recalling that day, Gomez said she was “numb.”
“I don’t think I could describe my emotions all at once,” she said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the shocking incident “a wake up call.”
“It should be unimaginable that this would happen in our city. But it did,” he said on social media at the time.
“Leaders at every level have abandoned city streets. I won’t,” he said.
Gomez said they weren’t sure what the outcome would be following the shooting.
“It was really gloomy. It felt like there was a dark cloud over us because everything was unknown,” she said.
Due to her injuries, the toddler had developed hemiparesis, a paralysis of her right side that affected her ability to eat, walk or use her right arm, the hospital said.
Today, she is a “super bubbly” toddler who loves to climb and is able to walk, “which is something they told us might not happen,” Gomez said.
“She’s beat all odds against her, gratefully,” Gomez said. “I want to say that her journey has also been miraculous compared to what we were always told, and we’re just happy to share this with everyone.”
Authorities are still looking for the shooter, who police said fled the scene in a gray four-door sedan.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark vowed that the city would not stop looking until the gunman was caught.
“You could continue to go out there and think you’re going to get away with it, but you’re not going to get away with it,” Clark told ABC New York station WABC in the wake of the shooting. “We’re going to find you eventually, because we’re not going to stop looking.”
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Justice Department lawyers and attorneys representing a coalition of GOP-led states were in court on Friday to again trade jabs about whether the Biden administration can lift pandemic-based restrictions at the southern border known as the Title 42 order.
Judge Robert R. Summerhays, a Trump appointee, said he plans to issue his decision later — not immediately — on the legal challenge that would block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Title 42 order from ending May 23.
Meanwhile, the temporary restraining order issued by the federal judge to prevent any phase-out of Title 42 will remain in place until he issues that decision and Customs and Border Protection can continue to expel immigrants on Title 42 grounds.
The administration argues that Title 42 is a health care policy meant to deal with the spread of COVID-19, not an immigration control measure, and that it has no choice but to follow the agency’s guidance that the public health order is no longer necessary as of May 23.
At the same time, even many vulnerable border state Democrats warn the administration is making a major mistake, that is has no plan to deal with an expected influx of immigrants and that it will hurt the party politically before the midterm elections.
At the hearing, the GOP coalition argued that the Biden administration failed to consider the impact ending Title 42 would have on the states, pointing to reports coming out of the Department of Homeland Security that they are preparing for further elevated level of undocumented immigrants in the coming weeks.
That could be as many as 18,000 more per day, according to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The GOP coalition argued their states would be harmed by education and health care costs, new drivers’ licenses and even drug trafficking, going as far as to say that lifting Title 42 would “reduce their ability to provide healthcare to legal residents.”
The evidence of such effects, though, is unconfirmed and untested.
Judge Summerhays at one point questioned the potential increase in criminal justice costs.
“It seems highly speculative … I don’t see how you can make the connection there,” the judge said.
When the federal government’s side picked up on the judge’s skepticism and attempted to run with it to undermine the plaintiff’s case, Summerhays clarified that he was simply “prodding” the state coalition attorneys as he did throughout the hearing.
Undocumented immigrants overall pay roughly $11.74 billion in state and local taxes every year, according to the non-profit, non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That amounts to about 8% of an average immigrant’s income, compared to about 5.4% of those in the top 1%.
Central to the case is whether the government fully considered the potential impact on states and whether the Biden administration acted unlawfully when it did not allow for a months-long notice and comment period prior to the end of Title 42.
The Trump administration initially brought the Title 42 order without such notice and DOJ attorneys argued that required such notice would kneecap the CDC’s authority to act quickly in response to changing emergency situations.
The judge’s order could come any time between now and May 23.
