Scoop: White House eyes ending migrant family expulsion by July 31

The White House is considering ending — as early as July 31 — the use of a Trump-era public health order that’s let U.S. border officials quickly turn back migrant families to Mexico, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The policy known as Title 42 has resulted in tens of thousands of migrant family members, including asylum seekers, being sent away — as well as thousands of kids then separating from their families to cross into the United States alone.

• Title 42 was rooted in protecting the United States from an influx of COVID-19. Maintaining its use has been harder to defend while the Biden administration touts climbing vaccination rates and slowing death and infection numbers.
• Top Centers for Disease Control officials, as well as physicians who serve as consultants for the Department of Homeland Security, also have opposed using the public health order to expel migrants.

Between the lines: President Biden has been briefed on a plan for stopping family expulsions by the end of July, as well as the option of letting a court end it, Axios has learned.

• The administration has been in negotiations with the ACLU, which has put a temporary hold on its lawsuit targeting the practice of expelling families.
• Details of internal discussions relayed to Axios show top administration officials have suggested Biden seize the initiative by ending the order, which has been sharply criticized by immigration advocates and many of his fellow Democrats.
• They argue that allowing the ACLU to sue would force the Justice Department to defend Trump’s policy.
• That, in turn, could result in sensitive information being released through the litigation process and could be seen as contradictory to Biden’s commitment to asylum.

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