Twenty-one Republican States are suing the Biden Administration to stop Title 42’s public health order. They now seek a temporary restraining or to prevent the order from being lifted before the May 23 rollback. The Biden administration was initially sued by three states: Arizona, Louisiana, and Missouri earlier this month. They were concerned about the decision to repeal Title 42. Title 42 was put in place in March 2020 by Trump to address the COVID-19 pandemic. It allows for rapid expulsion of migrants at border crossings.

Soon thereafter, additional states joined the lawsuit, bringing it to 21.

The complaint states that “This suit challenges an impending, man-made, self inflicted calamity”: the abrupt removal of the only safety valve to prevent this administration’s disastrous policies on border security from turning into an unmitigated disaster.

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital on Thursday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich stated that “Once more the Biden Administration is thumbing it nose at the American peoples and the rule of the law.” It cannot continue to be reckless.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health order was created in March 2020 and has been used ever since to expel most migrants crossing the border. Title 42 was used to expel 50% of the more than 221,000 migrants who were encountered at the border in March.

Thursday’s additional request for temporary restraining orders is to prevent any attempt by the Biden administration, ahead of the May 23rd date, to revoke Title 42 and to prove that it had been implementing Title 42.

Fox News reported Wednesday that Border Patrol had stopped using Title 42 for expulsion of migrants from the Northern Triangle countries, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador due to space limitations.

Fox News was told by sources at Border Patrol that they are instead processing them through Title 8 and expedited departure. Sources said that although the order remains technically in effect for these migrants, it is only valid as long as space is available on Title 42 expulsion flights. If these flights are full, migrants from those countries will be placed in expedited removal.

If a migrant has recently arrived in the U.S illegally, authorities can expedite their removal without having to hold a hearing. Fox News sources said that if a migrant claims fear of persecution, their removal order can be changed to a Notice To Appear, meaning that they can be released into the United States with a court date in the future. According to them, migrants already know what to say in order to be released to the U.S.

Fox News received a statement from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), stating that expulsions under Title 42 are still in effect for these nationalities and that it has not stopped the order to allow migrants to enter those countries.

A spokesperson stated that non-citizens of certain non-contiguous nations are expelled by aircraft in accordance with the CDC Order. However, the expulsion is delayed.

“Detention times beyond the COVID-19 isolation period are necessary because of the time it takes to coordinate flights for large numbers of migrants who fall into the delayed expulsion category. CBP is processing migrants for expedited removal, instead of paroling the population or issuing them a notice to come and releasing them on their own recognizance,” they stated. “The migration and customs enforcement and removals operations have taken the migrants into custody pending their departure.”