In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Arizona v. Mayorkas case, Justice Neil Gorsuch seized the opportunity to criticize America’s COVID-19 policies and states still employing Title 42 restrictions.
Justice Gorsuch’s statement was both assertive and humbling, branding the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as one of “the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country”.
Gorsuch lamented the choices made under the guise of public safety. He reflected on the far-reaching consequences of such measures, blasting school closures, and vaccine mandates restrictions on healthcare workers and church services.
This doesn’t come as a surprise. Gorsuch criticized COVID protocols before. In 2021, he dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision to require New York healthcare workers to get vaccinated. And in 2022, he was the only justice who refused to wear a mask in the Supreme Court. [Source]
While Gorsuch’s comments are aimed at COVID protocols, his main concern lies with the conversation around Title 42.
Title 42 is a policy enacted by former President Donald Trump, which allows certain states to return immigrants over the border under the pretense of securing public health. Title 42 was set to expire on May 11, 2023. [Source]
Gorsuch’s statement is in relation to the Supreme Court’s decision to let Title 42 to expire. A decision with which he agreed.
Gorsuch, who was appointed by Trump, didn’t have a problem with this policy until December 2022 when the Supreme Court decided to extend Title 42. A time when covid cases were coming down, and there was no need for such policies. [Source]
The policy was initially expected to end on December 21, 2022. However, after Republicans criticized President Joe Biden’s approach to the border crisis as ineffective, the Supreme Court decided to extend the expiration date to May 11, 2023. [Source]
He reflects on this decision, calling it a “serious misstep” because it allowed an emergency decree for one crisis to be used as a weapon for entirely different one–the border crisis. He wrote, “I do not discount the States’ concerns about what is happening at the border, but the current border crisis is not a COVID crisis.”
The extension of Title 42 in 2022 is a symptom of the larger overreach of executive powers that took place during the pandemic. With laws being manipulated to extend their original intent.
Gorsuch concluded, “If emergency decrees promise to solve some problems, they threaten to generate others, and rule by indefinite emergency edict risks leaving all of us with a shell of a democracy and civil liberties just as hollow”.
His comments serve as a warning about the dangers of concentrating power in a limited number of hands. Gorsuch urges the court and executive powers to learn from history. He wrote: “Fear and the desire for safety are powerful forces. They can lead to a clamor for action — almost any action — as long as someone does something to address a perceived threat.” [Source]
This comes at a time when many Americans are reflecting on the balance between public health measures and individual freedoms. His powerful commentary provides a significant voice in this ongoing debate.
The lessons he highlights from this challenging chapter of our history will resonate with many who share his concerns about the future of civil liberties in the US.
What we should learn from the end of Title 42 enforcement is that the future of immigration in the US remains a complex and ongoing issue.
So far, certain states have been enjoying the convenience of Title 42. However, new policies and strategies are needed to handle this issue.
On May 11, 2023, when Title 42 was set to expire, the border crisis worsened. Immigrants poured in, anticipating the policy’s expiration and awaiting approval for asylum in the US.
In a desperate attempt to deal with this, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and Thom Tillis made a bipartisan solution to extend the expiration date of Title 42. This move signifies that states at the southern border are not ready to deal with the pouring immigrants. [Source]
This is exactly what Gorsuch’s comments are about. A misuse of an emergency decree, which he perceived as a significant part of the “disruption” that occurred in how laws were made and freedoms observed during the pandemic.
America has an opportunity to learn from the pandemic’s trials and build on its foundational principles. Gorsuch’s cautionary words resonate powerfully in these challenging times. We have the chance to reinforce our commitment to protecting our individual freedom while checking the power of governmental overreach.