Federal judge rules deportation moratorium unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge John Barker, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump to the East Texas District Court, declined to issue a preliminary injunction but said he expected have the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention honor its ruling and lift the moratorium.

The order, citing that “COVID-19 poses a historic threat to public health,” temporarily put a stop to residential evictions.

Barker sided with the owners, writing in his ruling that “although the COVID-19 pandemic persists, the Constitution persists”.

Barker also wrote in his ruling that Congress also lacked the power to grant the CDC the power to stop evictions across the country, and noted that the moratorium threatened to infringe on landlord rights. under state law.

The plaintiffs were represented by two conservative legal groups, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the Southeastern Legal Foundation, who hailed the ruling as a victory.

“The CDC tried to use COVID-19 as an opportunity to seize power and the court rightly corrected this blatant excess,” said Robert Henneke, one of the lawyers in the case and lawyer general of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in a statement.

The Justice Department declined to comment when contacted by CNN.

It is not known whether the Justice Department plans to appeal the case.

On January 20, the new CDC director, Dr Rochelle Walensky, announced that the agency was extending the order until March 31.

This story was updated with additional information on Thursday.