A federal judge in Louisiana said Monday he would block the Biden administration from lifting a public health order that blocks asylum-seeking immigrants from leaving the United States.

U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays told Republican state attorneys general and the federal government that he plans to grant Republicans’ request for a temporary restraining order. This would prevent President Joe Biden from ending the policy known as Title 42, first implemented during the Trump administration.

The administration had said it would end the emergency order that allowed immigration authorities to deport asylum seekers next month.

But the decision has drawn condemnation from Republicans and pushback from some members of Biden’s own party, who say there needs to be a comprehensive plan in place to deal with the higher numbers of migrants expected at the end of the year. order. The Department of Homeland Security says so too. faces a lack of funding.

Summerhays granted the order during a virtual status conference on Monday. A summary of that meeting said states and federal agencies would “attempt to come to an agreement” on the specific terms of the order.

The summary did not include details of Summerhays’ legal reasoning. Former President Donald Trump nominated Summerhays as a federal judge in Louisiana, where he has served since 2018.

The Trump administration first enforced Title 42 during the first wave of pandemic restrictions in March 2020. Seeking to prevent coronavirus carriers from entering and staying in the country, the order allowed the Department of Homeland Security to deport asylum seeking immigrants.

More than one million migrants have been deported under the policy, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned at the beginning of this month it would lift Title 42 on May 23. The agency determined that with higher vaccination rates in the country and around the world, migrants no longer posed a sufficient public health threat to pursue the policy.

Attorneys general in Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri filed a lawsuit earlier this month to block that action. Eighteen other states, including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Idaho, Nebraska, Montana and Kansas, have joined in the past three weeks.

Although public health amid a pandemic was the rationale for imposing the policy more than two years ago, opponents of its removal have argued it should remain in place to stem immigration.

“This is a huge win for border security,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said. wrote on Twitter Monday. “But the fight continues.”