ACLU lawyer dismisses Title 42 as 'crutch,' claims people 'overstating' border crisis

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ACLU lawyer attacks Title 42: People are 'overstating' what's happening at the border

ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt argued that people are "overstating" the situation at the border and criticized the Supreme Court decision to keep Title 42 in place.

Lee Gelernt, deputy director for the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, criticized Title 42 and claimed people are "overstating" what’s happening at the border.

Gelernt appeared on Wednesday’s "CNN This Morning" to discuss news that the Supreme Court ruled to keep the Trump-era immigration policy in place as it awaits an official hearing in February. 

While several people celebrated the decision, the ACLU condemned the ruling, and Gelernt continued to criticize Title 42 as well as Republicans and others for "overstating" the situation at the border.

"From a public policy, you can’t misuse public health. It was not intended to regulate the border. I also think people are overstating what’s happening at the border. If you close the border for so long, of course, there’s going to be a temporary influx of people, but ultimately, it’ll even out, and the federal government has more than enough resources to deal with this," Gelernt said.

ACLU deputy director Lee Gelernt appeared on "CNN: This Morning." (CNN)

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Gelernt said the Biden administration has "not been great" regarding border policy but complimented the White House for continuing to condemn Title 42 and call for its end.

"I think they do have a plan. But ultimately, I think Title 42 is acting as a crutch. And once it goes, they will then have to surge those resources. What we saw with Ukrainians, which was great, is them surging resources, processing 100,000 people. We can do this. It’s sort of a ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’ kind of thing. And I think there’s no question they can do it. And I think the NGOs and other states around the country are prepared to help. But we can’t have a system where there’s zero asylum," Gelernt said.

Gelernt called for Congress to push for more asylum officers at the border, insisting that those crossing are not a "national security crisis."

The Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling in support of keeping Title 42 in place pending a court hearing in February. (John Moore/Getty Images)

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"But these families, I mean, you hear people say, ‘Well this is a national security crisis’ — if you would see these families at the border, and I know CNN has been down there all the time, these families walk over the border and they just sit down with their little children wanting to apply for asylum. They’re not bringing drugs, they’re not a danger. Let’s move some of the enforcement resources into processing cases," Gelernt said.

According to Fox News sources, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials experienced more than 500,000 migrant encounters since Oct. 1. This followed reports that October and November experienced record-high levels of migrant encounters at the border.

Fox News reported record numbers of border crossings in both October and November. (Fox News)

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THE ACLU’s statement on the Supreme Court decision was posted on its official Twitter account.

"The Supreme Court has allowed Title 42, which was set to end this month, to remain in place temporarily while litigation continues," the organization’s official Twitter wrote. "This decision allows our government to continue unlawfully expelling people seeking asylum. This cruel policy must end."