“It has everything to do with immigration politics and has nothing to deal with public health,” says Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute at Georgetown Law Center.

“[W]e think it’s legal, and we want to make clear that it is—but the best way to do that might be to drop it," one administration official told The Daily Beast.

Veterans of the immigration court system describe “a big mess” that can’t be fixed by simply hiring more judges.

“The International Criminal Court and the United States have had a stormy relationship,” said Professor Leila Nadya Sadat.

The Biden administration announced the end of a Trump-era law that expelled asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border under the banner of public health. But not yet.

Refugee advocates are concerned the administration might be firing off feel-good talking points without much heft behind them.

Fewer than 6,500 people have actually been allowed into the U.S. through refugee resettlement programs, out of 125,000 potential spots.