Title 42, a pandemic-era restriction on border asylum, is due to be repealed next week. The protocol began under the Trump administration, but was used and expanded under President Joe Biden.

November, U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan found It called the use “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered the government to stop using it by December 21.

Federal attorneys announced plans to appeal the order this month. They also said changes are being made through the comment period and rule-making process.

The Biden administration attempted to end the protocol itself earlier this year, but a Louisiana court of appeals backed Republican-led states, including Arizona, which sued to keep the protocol. also moved Participating in a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., claiming that removing the protocol would cause the number of people at the border to skyrocket.

But Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway says the protocol itself is causing a backup.

“Title 42 makes things worse because it prevents anything from being done,” he said.

Under the protocol, migrants arrested by Border Patrol agents trying to cross the border will be promptly turned back to Mexico. Ports of entry, such as those in Nogales, Hathaway County, are almost completely closed to asylum applications. Of Nogales, Hathaway said Title 42 is the latest policy to divide communities across borders. He said Customs and Border Protection and other aspects of the federal government have the resources to reopen borders and return to normal processing.

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. There’s always talk of caravans and invasions…that’s a lot of talk,” he said. “The 800-pound gorilla in the room is the federal agency, the CBP, and thousands of federal employees in my county. This is a federal matter and there is no change in our lives. Intrusion.”

Nogales has one of the largest border patrol bases in the country. Hathaway said CBP has been ramping up processing capacity in recent weeks in anticipation of his December 21st date. Republican states, including Arizona, asked a federal appeals court to rule on their request to stay Title 42’s scheduled termination in court filings late Monday. The request was denied by Sullivan earlier this month. A response from the court is expected later this week.