Late Thursday evening, a federal judge in Florida blocked the US government from releasing migrants without court dates, a practice that had been used in the past to relieve overcrowding. The order went into effect when Title 42, the public emergency health order, expired. The US District Judge ordered that the federal government should stop the release of migrants without court dates and restrict them to border patrol facilities until their cases are heard in courts. As a result, many people fear that this ruling could lead to overcrowding and unsafe conditions in border patrol facilities. Currently, there are over 27,000 people in US Customs and Border Protection custody throughout the country. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the ruling harmful and said that the Department of Justice is considering their options. The ruling would prevent the government from processing, screening, and vetting individuals and releasing them so that they can go into the immigration enforcement proceedings. The temporary ruling could put a strain on border communities.