Ruling from Judge Sullivan sets an end date for Title 42
In a decision with significant impact to asylum rights at the border, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled on Tuesday that the Title 42 policy is in violation of federal administrative laws. In his ruling, he said that the policy “failed to consider the harm to migrants subject to expulsion,” and that the CDC also failed to consider alternatives that could have had less drastic impacts.
This decision won’t go into effect immediately, as the judge has also granted a stay request from the Biden administration, delaying the implementation of the ruling for 5 weeks. Barring any other appeals to the decision, Title 42 will no longer be used for border processing effective midnight on December 21st.
Border encounters for October remain fairly flat
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 230,678 encounters along the southwest border for October, a 1.3% increase over September. However, as there continue to be high levels of repeat crossings, a more accurate number is the 185,527 unique individuals encountered at the southern border.
With the introduction of the new parole program and expansion of Title 42 to Venezuelans in mid-October, encounters from Venezuelans saw a 35% drop but remained high with 22,044 encounters. 27% of Venezuelans encountered at the border were expelled under Title 42, including 1,349 family unit members. There was also a striking increase in the number of arrivals from Russia at the southwest border, which saw a 139% increase between August and October.
Subcommittee hearing on women’s treatment reveals “serious issues” with medical procedures at migrant detention center in Georgia
On Tuesday, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations revealed the results of an 18-month investigation into medical treatment of migrant women held at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. Senator Jon Ossoff presented findings from the report, stating that “among the serious abuses this Subcommittee has investigated during the last two years, subjecting female detainees to nonconsensual and unnecessary gynecological surgeries is one of the most nightmarish and disgraceful.”
The report found that women were subjected to unnecessary and invasive gynecological procedures that were risky, painful, and at times were performed without the full consent of the patients. The investigation looked into the conduct of Dr. Mahendra Amin, who provided care for women detained at the facility, and the failure of ICE to provide proper oversight of the care being given to detainees. Out of the 94 patient records examined in the report, 40 of them showed that Dr. Amin removed benign ovarian cysts when such cysts “generally resolve without surgical intervention.” The report revealed a total of 659 complaints from detainees about their medical care at the detention center between 2018 and 2020.
It was further revealed that Dr. Amin was not board certified and had been sued in the past for Medicaid fraud with the allegation that he engaged in “unnecessary and excessive medical procedures." The allegations highlight deficiencies in ICE’s vetting and oversight of the medical providers who provide care to detainees in their custody.