LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A health rule imposed at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that has blocked immigration at the US border with Mexico must stay in place, a judge ruled on Friday (May 20).

Title 42, the colloquial name for an order that can effectively prevent anyone without a visa from entering the United States, even to claim asylum, was due to expire on Monday.

President Joe Biden's administration said the order was no longer needed, more than two years after it was imposed by then-president Donald Trump.

But Republican governors of more than 20 states went to court to demand that it remain in place.

On Friday, federal judge Robert Summerhays issued an injunction to that effect.

"The court finds that the plaintiff states have satisfied each of the requirements for a preliminary injunction," said the ruling, signed by Summerhays.