LOS ANGELES, CA – In response to Judge Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana’s ruling allowing Arizona, Texas, and 22 non-border states to stop the Biden Administration from terminating Title 42, Innovation Law Lab, a nonprofit organization that has filed an amicus brief and a motion to intervene in Arizona v. CDC and their counsel, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law (CILP) and the National Immigration Project for the National Lawyers Guild, issued the following statements:

Ian Philabaum, Co-Director of Innovation Law Lab's Anticarceral Legal Organizing program:

"Title 42, shamelessly peddled by fear mongering politicians as a "public health" policy, has served only to fan the flames of the real travesty at the border: violence against migrants and barriers to seeking asylum. We deserve our day in court to defend our organization's commitments to people seeking asylum.”

Monika Y. Langarica, Staff Attorney and counsel for amici and proposed intervenors, Center for Immigration Law and Policy:

“We are deeply disappointed in today’s court order. The nationwide injunction keeping the Title 42 order in place is dangerous and unlawful. It will continue to imperil lives and block access to the asylum system, including along the border in states that are not parties to this lawsuit. As we argued in court last Friday, May 13, and in the amicus brief we filed earlier this week, nothing in this case justifies the nationwide injunction the court ordered today. States like Arizona & Texas should not be permitted to dictate border & immigration policy for the whole country.”

Matt Vogel, Supervising Attorney at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild: 

"May 23rd was meant to mark the long overdue end of Title 42. Instead, because of this Louisiana court decision, this racist and xenophobic policy will continue to subject thousands of people at our borders to violence and harm. Still, the fight is not over. We will continue working with our partners to end Title 42, restore our asylum system, and ensure that all seeking safety are welcomed with dignity and respect." 

Founded in 2020, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law expands the law school's role as a national leader in immigration law and policy, generating innovative ideas at the intersection of immigration scholarship and practice and serving as a hub for transforming those ideas into meaningful changes in immigration policy. 

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