The Supreme Court canceled March 1 oral arguments in a case challenging the Title 42 emergency policy soon after the Justice Department said the case would soon become moot.
Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that has helped the government expel over two million migrants, is slated to expire on May 11 when the COVID-19 emergency officially ends. Several Republican-led states sued last year to keep the policy in place out of concern that an influx of migrants would flood the southern border.
The DOJ issued a brief earlier this month saying that the upcoming case, Arizona v. Mayorkas, would become moot once the pandemic emergency ends.
TITLE 42 SUPREME COURT CASE WILL BE MOOT AFTER COVID EMERGENCY ENDS: DOJ
JUST IN: The Supreme Court cancels the March 1 oral argument in Arizona v. Mayorkas, involving the Title 42 immigration policy. The government recently told the justices that the case may become moot on May 11 because the policy will expire when the COVID emergency formally ends.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) February 16, 2023
"The government has also recently announced its intent to adopt new Title 8 policies to address the situation at the border once the Title 42 orders end," the 48-page DOJ brief added.
The oral argument date was removed from the Supreme Court calendar without explanation. The decision also did not appear to lift a previous stay applied to a lower court judge's order striking down the policy, indicating that Title 42 will remain in effect until May 11.
This is a developing story and will be updated.