By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) – The Biden administration on Friday moved to revive an order put in place by then-President Donald Trump directing the expulsion of migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after a U.S. judge blocked it.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal with a Washington-based appellate court of Thursday’s ruling https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-blocks-expulsions-migrant-families-under-title-42-order-2021-09-16 by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who said the public health law the policy is based on, Title 42, does not authorize the expulsion of migrants.

President Joe Biden has faced growing pressure https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-immigration-advocates-blast-cruel-biden-policies-asylum-2021-08-13 from some health experts, immigration advocates and fellow Democrats to stop applying the Title 42 order, which has essentially cut off access to asylum for hundreds of thousands of migrants.

Although the Title 42 policy is necessary in order to stop the spread of coronavirus has been claimed by the Biden administration. However, it lacks scientific evidence and has been opposed by many experts.

Friday’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Circuit was a suit brought by advocacy groups including Oxfam America and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Noah Gottschalk was the global policy leader for Oxfam. He stated that the organization believed the judge would uphold the decision.

Gottschalk stated in a statement that “It is extremely disappointing that President Trump’s xenophobic immigrant policies are being supported by the Biden administration.”

At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump’s administration had already adopted the expulsion policy. Trump, the Republican president, implemented tough policies regarding legal and illegal immigration prior to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Biden, who exempted children unaccompanied from the policy in February, said that his administration would apply it to smaller families being detained at the border.

This judge’s decision applies only to the families of migrants and not single individuals.