Haitian migrants, part of a group of over 10,000 people staying in an encampment on the U.S. side of the border, cross the Rio Grande river to get food and water in Mexico, after another crossing point was closed near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on September 19, 2021. (Photo: Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images)
After Two Years and Over 1 Million Expulsions, Advocates Demand Biden End Title 42 Deportations
"The Biden administration may have inherited Title 42, but its legacy on immigration is now being defined by the continuation of this disgraceful policy."
Migrant rights advocates on Sunday marked the second anniversary of a Trump-era tactic continued by the Biden administration to deport asylum-seekers under pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic by calling for an end to the harmful policy.
"Asylum-seekers have found America's golden doors shamefully slammed shut on them for two years too many."
Title 42, a provision of the Public Health Safety Act first invoked by the Trump administration as the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020, has been used to remove more than one million asylum-seekers--the majority of them during the tenure of President Joe Biden.
Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, said in a video marking the ignominious anniversary that Title 42 is "based on a misuse of the public health laws, claiming that we could no longer have asylum-seekers because they could spread Covid. That has been rejected by every public health official who's looked at it."
Noting that a federal court this month barred the administration from using Title 42 to expel families fleeing danger, Gelernt implored Biden to end the policy.
"It has been too long and it is causing grave harm to people fleeing persecution and torture," he said.
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said in a statement Sunday that "asylum-seekers have found America's golden doors shamefully slammed shut on them for two years too many."
"As recently as this week, Ukrainians have also been barred from entry, joining Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, El Salvadorians, Brazilians, and Haitians as the victims of this enduring refusal to recognize their dignity and right to seek protection," she noted.
O'Mara Vignarajah continued:
Despite the president's promises of a humane immigration system, this policy subjects children and families to a litany of horrors in Mexico, including kidnapping, rape, trafficking, torture, and other violent attacks. The Biden administration may have inherited Title 42, but its legacy on immigration is now being defined by the continuation of this disgraceful policy.
People seeking safety are not a public health threat; if any threat exists, it is the one Title 42 poses to our nation's moral standing and credibility as the world's humanitarian leader. There is no room for double standards--as the administration eases pandemic restrictions, it must also end the mass expulsion of asylum-seekers in violation of their rights under both international and U.S. law.
"It is long past time we live up to our values and legal obligations by welcoming these children, families, and individuals with dignity and due process," she added.
Last Tuesday, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky demanding an end to Title 42 expulsions.
The lawmakers contrasted the administration's treatment of Haitians--20,000 of whom have been deported despite the ongoing dangers and tumult caused by last year's presidential assassination, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, and hurricane that devastated much of the impoverished nation--with that of Ukrainians, who are not being deported due to Russia's invasion.
"There is every reason to extend that same level of compassion and exercise that same discretion to suspend deportations to Haiti," Pressley and Jones argued, "and, in light of your own findings about the ongoing humanitarian crisis there, no excuse not to."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Migrant rights advocates on Sunday marked the second anniversary of a Trump-era tactic continued by the Biden administration to deport asylum-seekers under pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic by calling for an end to the harmful policy.
"Asylum-seekers have found America's golden doors shamefully slammed shut on them for two years too many."
Title 42, a provision of the Public Health Safety Act first invoked by the Trump administration as the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020, has been used to remove more than one million asylum-seekers--the majority of them during the tenure of President Joe Biden.
Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, said in a video marking the ignominious anniversary that Title 42 is "based on a misuse of the public health laws, claiming that we could no longer have asylum-seekers because they could spread Covid. That has been rejected by every public health official who's looked at it."
Noting that a federal court this month barred the administration from using Title 42 to expel families fleeing danger, Gelernt implored Biden to end the policy.
"It has been too long and it is causing grave harm to people fleeing persecution and torture," he said.
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said in a statement Sunday that "asylum-seekers have found America's golden doors shamefully slammed shut on them for two years too many."
"As recently as this week, Ukrainians have also been barred from entry, joining Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, El Salvadorians, Brazilians, and Haitians as the victims of this enduring refusal to recognize their dignity and right to seek protection," she noted.
O'Mara Vignarajah continued:
Despite the president's promises of a humane immigration system, this policy subjects children and families to a litany of horrors in Mexico, including kidnapping, rape, trafficking, torture, and other violent attacks. The Biden administration may have inherited Title 42, but its legacy on immigration is now being defined by the continuation of this disgraceful policy.
People seeking safety are not a public health threat; if any threat exists, it is the one Title 42 poses to our nation's moral standing and credibility as the world's humanitarian leader. There is no room for double standards--as the administration eases pandemic restrictions, it must also end the mass expulsion of asylum-seekers in violation of their rights under both international and U.S. law.
"It is long past time we live up to our values and legal obligations by welcoming these children, families, and individuals with dignity and due process," she added.
Last Tuesday, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky demanding an end to Title 42 expulsions.
The lawmakers contrasted the administration's treatment of Haitians--20,000 of whom have been deported despite the ongoing dangers and tumult caused by last year's presidential assassination, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, and hurricane that devastated much of the impoverished nation--with that of Ukrainians, who are not being deported due to Russia's invasion.
"There is every reason to extend that same level of compassion and exercise that same discretion to suspend deportations to Haiti," Pressley and Jones argued, "and, in light of your own findings about the ongoing humanitarian crisis there, no excuse not to."
Migrant rights advocates on Sunday marked the second anniversary of a Trump-era tactic continued by the Biden administration to deport asylum-seekers under pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic by calling for an end to the harmful policy.
"Asylum-seekers have found America's golden doors shamefully slammed shut on them for two years too many."
Title 42, a provision of the Public Health Safety Act first invoked by the Trump administration as the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020, has been used to remove more than one million asylum-seekers--the majority of them during the tenure of President Joe Biden.
Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, said in a video marking the ignominious anniversary that Title 42 is "based on a misuse of the public health laws, claiming that we could no longer have asylum-seekers because they could spread Covid. That has been rejected by every public health official who's looked at it."
Noting that a federal court this month barred the administration from using Title 42 to expel families fleeing danger, Gelernt implored Biden to end the policy.
"It has been too long and it is causing grave harm to people fleeing persecution and torture," he said.
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said in a statement Sunday that "asylum-seekers have found America's golden doors shamefully slammed shut on them for two years too many."
"As recently as this week, Ukrainians have also been barred from entry, joining Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, El Salvadorians, Brazilians, and Haitians as the victims of this enduring refusal to recognize their dignity and right to seek protection," she noted.
O'Mara Vignarajah continued:
Despite the president's promises of a humane immigration system, this policy subjects children and families to a litany of horrors in Mexico, including kidnapping, rape, trafficking, torture, and other violent attacks. The Biden administration may have inherited Title 42, but its legacy on immigration is now being defined by the continuation of this disgraceful policy.
People seeking safety are not a public health threat; if any threat exists, it is the one Title 42 poses to our nation's moral standing and credibility as the world's humanitarian leader. There is no room for double standards--as the administration eases pandemic restrictions, it must also end the mass expulsion of asylum-seekers in violation of their rights under both international and U.S. law.
"It is long past time we live up to our values and legal obligations by welcoming these children, families, and individuals with dignity and due process," she added.
Last Tuesday, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky demanding an end to Title 42 expulsions.
The lawmakers contrasted the administration's treatment of Haitians--20,000 of whom have been deported despite the ongoing dangers and tumult caused by last year's presidential assassination, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, and hurricane that devastated much of the impoverished nation--with that of Ukrainians, who are not being deported due to Russia's invasion.
"There is every reason to extend that same level of compassion and exercise that same discretion to suspend deportations to Haiti," Pressley and Jones argued, "and, in light of your own findings about the ongoing humanitarian crisis there, no excuse not to."