Biden administration heads to court to defend use of Trump-era policy barring illegal immigrants who crossed the southern border from staying in the US during the pandemic

 Biden administration lawyers appeared in court on Wednesday to defend their use of a Trump-era immigration restriction that has led to more than a million migrants being expelled at the US-Mexico border.

The Biden administration says the use of Title 42 public health protections are essential to stem the entry of COVID-19 into the country. 

But human rights campaigners argues it deprives arrivals of their right to claim asylum and offers no public health benefit when the coronavirus is already widespread. 

In September, a federal court in Washington, DC, issued a injunction barring the Biden administration from using the measure to expel families.

However, that was overturned on appeal.

Campaigners return to the appeals court on Wednesday where they will argue that they have documented thousands of murders, kidnappings, sexual assaults, and other forms of violence against expelled migrants.

Asylum-seeking migrants from Haiti walk near the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents to request asylum in El Paso, Texas

Critics have accused President Joe Biden of failing to make good on promises to reverse President Donald Trump's immigration policies. Campaigners will be in court on Wednesday as they continue their efforts to overturn the administration's use of Title 42, a public health measure that allows officers to expel migrants without hearing their asylum claims

'The Biden administration is bound by both domestic law (the Immigration and Nationality Act) and international law (the Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, the International Bill of Human Rights) to allow refugees to seek safety at our border, rather than be expelled back to regions where they are at risk of persecution,' said Oxfam legal adviser Diana Kearney in a memo setting out the group's position.

'We are litigating alongside our partners to ensure that the US government adheres to these legal obligations.'

Title 42 was first applied to the pandemic by the Trump administration.

It allows border officials to swiftly return migrant adults and families to Mexico or their homelands without first screening them for asylum. 

Its use during the pandemic has been highly controversial, and critics saw the fingerprints of Steven Miller - one of President Donald Trump's most senior advisers - and his anti-immigration instincts all over it.

At the time, the Associated Press reported that the White House had acted despite the advice of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which said there was no evidence it would slow the coronavirus.

'We are back in court because the Biden administration has chosen to continue this brutal policy against families, despite the absence of any support from public health officials,' the ACLU's Lee Gelernt, lead attorney in the litigation, told CNN. 

Public health experts have lined up in support of their action.

US Border Patrol agents monitor a section on the U.S.-Mexico border wall lear Otay Mesa, between San Diego and Tijuana

A record number of immigrants – legal and illegal – are living in the U.S. with 46.2 million foreign-born people in the country\

Dr. Ron Waldman, an epidemiologist at the CDC for more than 20 years who is now president of Doctors of the World-USA said Title 42 had never been about public health. 

'Despite President Biden’s promises to end the harmful immigration practices of the previous administration, his administration, acting through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has fully embraced, defended, and used this inhumane policy for a year now,' he said. 

'They now own it, and the horrific human suffering it has inflicted.'

Critics say the Biden administration has failed to make good on its promises to overturn the most brutal of Trump's immigration policies. 

At the same time, Biden is under pressure from the right.

Republicans accuse Biden's soft touch is causing a surge in migrant numbers arriving at the southern border.     

Earlier this month, Customs and Border Protection released figures showing officers had encountered more than two million migrants at the border - a huge number, swollen in part by repeat arrivals who had already been turned away under Title 42.

In 2015, the number was about 527,000. 

Republicans see a winning issue in November's midterms as they seek to recapture the House and the Senate. 

And Sen. Ted Cruz recently said Republicans will be under 'enormous pressure' to impeach Biden if they take back the House of Representatives in this year's midterm elections.

On The Verdict With Ted Cruz, he accused Democrats of 'weaponizing' impeachment against twice-impeached former President Donald Trump.

Asked about whether his colleagues in the House will respond in kind, Cruz said: 'I do think there's a chance of that. Whether it's justified or not, Democrats weaponized impeachment.'