WORLD NEWS | US ends national emergency related to COVID-19 pandemic

washington [US]April 11 (ANI): US President Joe Biden on Monday (local time) signed a bill ending the COVID-19 national emergency more than three years after it took effect.

“On Monday, April 10, 2023, the President signed into law: HJRes.7, Ending the National Emergency Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a White House press release read.

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The legislation, authored by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), passed the House in February with support from a minority of Democratic supporters by a vote of 229-197 and then by a vote of 68-23 last month. It passed the Senate, where about half of Democrats voted in favor, the New York Post reported.

The new law immediately ends a national emergency and a public health emergency that were first enacted during the Trump administration and continued into the Biden administration. Former President Donald Trump first declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020, retroactive to March 1 of that year. The declarations allow for the release of federal funds to cities and states for testing and vaccination centers.

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According to the New York Post, it is unclear what direct impact Biden’s signature will have on related U.S. policies, such as immigration policy and his student debt relief plan.

The White House opposes the measure proposed by Republicans, which has some bipartisan support in Congress even though the White House plans to end the emergency declaration on May 11.

The White House said the legislation would “create widespread confusion and uncertainty throughout the health care system — to states, hospitals and physician offices, and most importantly, to tens of millions of Americans.”

In January, the White House said Biden would end the national and public health emergency on May 11 after more than 1 million Americans died from the respiratory illness that originated in Wuhan, China.

The Justice Department said ending the state of emergency would end the Title 42 immigration policy, which allows for the rapid deportation of people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, the New York Post reported.

The Biden administration has eased Section 42 by gradually allowing more people to enter the U.S. to await asylum rulings, but thousands of immigrants are still being deported under the policy each month and will have to be replaced with a new program to Addressing records – high rate of illegal border crossings. (Arnie)

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