EXPLAINER: What happens if COVID asylum restrictions end?

By REBECCA SANTANA
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has been using a public health rule intended to limit the spread of disease to expel migrants seeking asylum since the pandemic began. It’s called Title 42. And it’s been used more than 2.5 million times to expel migrants since going into effect in March 2020. Legal fights to determine Title 42’s fate have gone on almost as long. The Supreme Court said in a ruling Tuesday that it will keep Title 42 in place indefinitely. In November, a federal judge set a December deadline to end use of Title 42. Conservative states filed a last-minute appeal to keep it in place, and the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in.