Federal health order allowing rapid removal of migrants must end Wednesday, court rules

Migrants are picked up by Border Patrol after hundreds of people crossed the Rio Grande to seek asylum in the U.S. last week. (Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune)

A federal appeals court denied a request Friday from Republican-led states to delay the lifting of an emergency health order the federal government has used for more than two years to quickly turn away migrants, including those seeking asylum, at the southwest border.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., denied a request from 19 Republican-led states, including Texas, that had asked the three-judge panel to delay lifting the order — known as Title 42 — on Dec. 21. The judges said the states’ request came too late in the process. The states could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.