Nurses display a ‘Stay Home’ sign on their vehicle during a nurses’ motor home calling people to stay home during a spate of COVID-19 cases in El Paso on Nov. 16, 2020 in El Paso, Texas.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
A federal judge in Texas ruled Thursday night that the national ban on deportation, in effect since September, is unconstitutional.
“While the Covid-19 pandemic continues, so does the Constitution,” wrote US District Judge John Barker, who sided with a group of real estate managers who argued the ban is beyond the control of the federal government.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national moratorium was first announced under former President Donald Trump in September 2020. It banned eviction of tenants struggling financially because of the coronavirus pandemic.
President Joe Biden has since extended the moratorium through March, and the latest stimulus package in the works would keep it in effect until September 2021.
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The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Landlords have criticized the CDC’s moratorium, saying the government has exceeded its authority and they cannot afford to accommodate non-paying tenants. Lawsuits have also been filed against the moratorium in Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee, although all have been unsuccessful.
Proponents of the ban quickly rebuffed the ruling, fearing it would trigger a flood of eviction requests. The winter storms that have resulted in massive power cuts across Texas will only make things worse, they say.
“This decision is a major departure from all other district court decisions that have upheld the CDC moratorium as constitutional,” said Emily Benfer, a visiting law professor at Wake Forest University.