WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The Biden administration said it plans to appeal a ruling issued Thursday about whether the pandemic can be used as a reason to deny families access to asylum.
In the ruling, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the Biden administration must stop expelling migrant families using the public health policy Title 42.
Amy Fischer with Amnesty International USA called the ruling “a huge victory.”
“There has been overwhelming consensus from health authorities that there’s actually no public health basis to Title 42 expulsions,” Fischer said.
The Biden administration previously said Title 42 is not being used to deny asylum claims to unaccompanied minors. Sullivan ruled the same should apply to families with children.
Fischer wants the Biden administration to allow everyone, including single adults, to file asylum claims.
“If it is illegal to deny asylum access to families, then it also needs to be illegal to deny asylum access to children and adults,” Fischer said.
Sullivan’s ruling takes effect in two weeks.
Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted, “The same activist judge made a similar ruling last year.” He called on the White House to appeal the ruling.
The Biden administration said it plans to do so.