A major blow at the border
for President Biden.
The Supreme Court ruling that title 42,
a controversial Trump
era border policy will remain in place
as legal challenges play out its policy.
The Biden administration said
it was ready to see.
And just minutes ago,
President Biden reacted to the ruling
the court is not going to decide
on how to proceed,
but I think it's overdue.
But for now, the five to four ruling
is a major victory for GOP led states
that asked the Supreme Court
to step in, like Arizona,
whose attorney general said
he was, quote,
proud to lead the charge
on this important issue.
The policy lets federal officials
quickly expel migrants who cross the U.S.
border illegally.
And today's ruling
means it will continue to take place
for at least several more months.
It was put in place
during the beginning of the pandemic
to stop the spread of COVID.
But the White House did not want to keep
the policy, despite warnings
from Homeland Security officials
that lifting
it could lead to disaster at the border.
One source telling CNN
DHS projected between 9000 to 14,000
migrants would try
to cross the southern border
each and every day,
more than double
the current number of people crossing,
according to a source familiar
with those projections.
The White House tonight
also vowing to comply with the ruling,
but urging Republicans to now
work with Democrats
on bipartisan immigration reform.
We've got the story covered
from all angles.
Leila Santiago is near
the border in El Paso, Texas.
And Priscilla
Alvarez is in Washington for us.
We're going to start at the border
with Leila.
Leila,
knowing that border officials
have been warning
of a massive surge of people
coming over the border.
If the court allowed
the removal of Title 42,
what is the mood there tonight?
What are you hearing
Well, listen, as I've been speaking
to the migrants themselves,
I can't stop thinking about one mother
who just repeated over
and over in Spanish saying, this is bad.
This is bad.
She's from Venezuela,
spent months trying to get up here
and says she tried to cross illegally
but couldn't because of Title 44.
Then you had the city officials
who had some contingency plans
in case this was lifted
and expecting a large surge.
They're actually still moving forward
with some of those plans
because they see
what's on the other side of the border,
which is a lot of migrants waiting.
And then they're dealing with this.
Take a look behind me.
These are a lot of the migrants
that have already cross.
And many of these migrants
will not go to the shelters
or get on a bus out of fear.
They don't want to be moved
because they don't know
where they will go.
Even though
El Paso city officials
say they have the capacity right now
to accommodate them.
So many of them are here.
And I'm seeing young men,
I'm seeing older men,
I'm seeing children talk idlers.
One of the shelter
organizers told me that he didn't.
He said that this decision
by the Supreme Court
will only extend the bottleneck
that we see
at the border right now
and could create unsustainable pressure
for law enforcement.
So a lot of folks
still sort of trying to make sense
of what this will mean
for the migrants themselves.
It has really left them
with a sense of uncertainty and fear.
Sara. All right.
Thank you so much, Leila
Santiago there at the border in El Paso.
Now let's go to CNN White House
correspondent Priscilla Alvarez.
Priscilla,
what else are you hearing from
the White House tonight?
There is obviously
a bit of disappointment That's right.
And the White House says
that they will comply with the order,
but they're also pointing the finger
at Congress.
Let me just read part
of that statement to you.
They said, quote,
Title 42 is a public health measure,
not an immigration enforcement measure,
and it should not be extended
indefinitely.
They later went on to say
that today's order
gives Republicans
and Congress
plenty of time to move
past political finger-pointing
and join their Democratic colleagues
in solving the challenge at our border
by passing
the comprehensive reform measures
and delivering
additional funds
for border security
that President Biden has requested.
Now, Sara,
this is an issue
that has vexed Congress for decades
and is
It is also
one that has only grown
more politically contentious over time.
So any reform or attempt
to overhaul
the immigration system
is going to be a challenge
in the meantime, though,
the administration says
they're going to move forward
with their preparations
in the event
that, as you heard from President Biden,
title 42 ends next summer.
The Department of Homeland Security
also saying in a statement
that migrants should not be listening
to smugglers
who may try to exploit the situation.
Sara. All right.
We have heard
that there has been some exporting
going on for sure.
Thank you so much.
OUTFRONT now, Scott
Jennings, former
senior adviser
to Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
and a CNN political commentator,
and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
former defense attorney and former
Democratic mayor of Baltimore.
Thank you both for being here.
Good evening.
Scott, I'll start with you.
What's the big takeaway
that you see coming out of this
from the Supreme Court's decision?
Yeah, a few things.
And thanks for having me on tonight.
I think, number
one, the Supreme Court,
at least temporarily
saved Joe Biden from himself.
I mean, his administration was in court
arguing to end this.
And they even admitted in court
the solicitor general admitted that
lifting Title 42 will lead to disruption
and a temporary increase
in unlawful border crossings.
And we already know
we already
have a massive number of people
coming across anyway.
So, you know,
the Supreme Court here did them a favor.
Number two,
big political win
for the Republicans who run the states
that challenge this.
They see what the problem is
and they wanted to keep this in place.
So I think that was a good move
politically for the Republicans here
who were arguing
for more border security.
But number three,
the real question is going to come
next year. This is going to end.
And at what point are all the
federal policymakers
going to help
these states, these governors
and these mayors
who are dealing with this
influx of people?
It's really a federal issue.
They have to secure the border.
And I don't think
the American people think
everybody coming across
there is a legitimate refugee,
which is what
the position of the Biden administration
apparently is.
Marilyn's like you think President Biden,
as well as his predecessors,
have really failed
to solve the issue of immigration.
And I suspect that includes Congress.
Do you think this might help
push two sides together,
or is this going to be the same old,
same old
when it comes to Republicans
and Democrats in Congress?
I think when you listen to Scott
and he talks about it
being a big political win,
that sort of tells you where we are.
We're talking about people.
We're talking about
vulnerable populations.
And too many leaders are still talking
about whether or not we can
who can score political points this
this is a time of crisis
that requires leaders
to do
what they are elected to do
and which is to lead
in difficult circumstances.
And we need more attention.
This is a crisis.
We need to see members
of the Biden administration
at the borders
with mayors
who are
on the ground dealing with this issue day
in and day out
until some real comprehensive
solutions can be found.
And to be fair, we have heard
and I totally agree
with with that last statement
that we need to see
the Biden administration at the border.
Neither the president
nor the vice president has visited
the border.
They have not offered the kind of support
to the Border Patrol.
In fact, they have attacked in the past.
Border Patrol agents
who were doing their job.
So I totally agree.
I do think we need to see Biden
and Kamala Harris and other officials
down there
admitting that they have told
the American people
a bunch of falsehoods they just
made, said the border is secure.
That's not true.
White House
press secretary is said,
oh, people are just
it's not like they walk across.
That's not true.
It's been dishonest statements
after dishonest statements.
And they've never even visited
the see this crisis.
So I agree with it. Okay.
So you both agree on something.
Scott, I want to get quickly to reading
some of what the White House
response to this ruling is.
And in part,
they say, quote,
Today's order
gives Republicans in Congress
plenty of time
to move
past political finger-pointing
and join their Democratic colleagues
in solving the challenge at our border
by passing the comprehensive
reform measures and delivering
the additional funds
for border
security that President Biden
has requested.
I know for myself,
from talking to lawmakers
on the ground there,
some of the council members in El Paso,
they've said that they're not
seeing those federal funds.
They need the federal funds
to deal with the influx of people.
Why can't Republicans
and Democrats seem to come together?
Is it
because we are seeing
the edges of both parties
keeping reform from happening,
keeping major reform from happening?
Well, I think there's
a fundamental deep disagreement
between both parties
on who should be able to come
across and claim
legitimate refugee status
It appears that the left
and the Biden administration
thinks everybody should come
and we should just
do the paperwork faster.
And the Republicans,
I think, want to slow this down and say,
wait a minute, what?
We really need to
focus on
is more resources
to actually secure the border.
Case in point,
the other day,
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey
literally took shipping containers
and tried to build a wall
on the Arizona border in the Yuma Gap.
And the Biden administration sued him
and made him take it down.
So I think the fundamental disagreements
on priorities
here, Republicans for border security,
the Biden administration says come on in.
That's a big divide.
And I and
I have a hard time
seeing how bipartisan
solutions will happen
when you've got such
fundamental disagreements on the policy.
But I think it's a bit disingenuous
to say
that the Biden administration is saying,
come on in.
There are still border agents there.
They are still trying to do their job.
And what they're seeing
is a huge influx of people
who are trying to come in
and they'll do it any way that they can.
Their Rawlings-Blake.
Just curious about your response
to what you heard from from Scott there
and what you heard from the
from the Biden administration itself.
You know,
every day the
Republican Party sends out
its talking points
on all the news of the day.
The Democratic Party does the same thing.
I get it.
You know,
their positions that, you know,
we're supposed to take to say, you know,
the republic
is a fundamental disagreement.
Of course, there's a disagreement.
There's a lot of things
that I'm sure that if we sat down,
we could agree on.
But until the leaders who are elected
are willing
to not worry about who gets the blame,
not worry about who gets the credit
and try to help these these
these people who deserve better,
we're going to be stuck.