PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Questions at the U.S. border continue to linger when it comes to the status of Title 42.
St. Petersburg immigration attorney Steve Maggi says the 80-year-old federal law allows the U.S. to turn people away—if they're looking to come into the country during a public health emergency.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, an interpretation of that law has been used to turn immigrants away at the U.S. border without allowing them to formally apply for asylum.
But Maggi questions the interpretation of that law as we move away from the height of the pandemic.
"People have resumed their lives in places like Florida, especially, for quite a while. How can you continue to site that specific title or that specific law to not allow people to enter the united states through the border or even to apply for asylum at what they call ports of entry," he said.
After many legal challenges, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to have a hearing in February to decide whether or not they should keep Title 42 in place.
But even if the law is rescinded, Maggi says the situation at the border won't be solved.
"The lack of a clear, coherent policy what it does is breed more chaos," he said.
And in the meantime, Maggi says he's encouraging clients that are looking to come to the U.S. to be patient.
"What I advise clients is to wait and see and that means that they have to stay where they are in order for them to eventually be able to apply for some sort of legal remedy," he said, "Like now there's something called humanitarian parole that's been extended to Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans, which allows them to get an opportunity to come to the u.S. But they have to go through the process."
