U.S. to end COVID-era order blocking migrants at Mexico border - sources

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials are planning to end a sweeping, pandemic-related expulsion policy that has effectively closed down the U.S. asylum system at the border with Mexico by May 23, a U.S. official familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that the decision had not yet been finalized.

A draft notice by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the so-called Title 42 order blocking asylum seekers was no longer needed to protect U.S. citizens from COVID-19 and that the May 23 date would give border authorities time to prepare for its end, the official said.

A second U.S. official told Reuters the CDC is set to lift the order as early as Thursday with a delayed effective date of a month or longer. Both officials requested anonymity to discuss internal planning.

Leading Democrats, medical experts and the United Nations have urged the United States to end Title 42, but Republicans argue it will encourage more migrants to enter illegally at a time when border crossings are already breaking records.