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On May 11, 2023, the public health emergency associated with COVID-19 ended, and this also ended the cruel and unlawful use of Title 42 at the border. Title 42 has been wrongfully used over 2.6 million times, first by the Trump Administration, and then by the Biden Administration, to rapidly expel migrants at the border without offering them the opportunity to seek asylum or other humanitarian protection under U.S. law. "UUSJ [has] been unequivocal in our opposition to the use of Title 42 to limit access to asylum seekers. While we are pleased Title 42 is finally ending, we are deeply concerned that the policies announced to replace it are not an acceptable or humane alternative.”
Unfortunately, the Department of Homeland Security has already announced a new rule that replaces Title 42 with:
The new rule does also contain positive steps offering:
Nevertheless, these positive provisions are coupled with unacceptable limitations on asylum that threaten to return people to dangerous situations without a full consideraation of their claims. See UUSJ’s April comments on the proposed rule.
Among Legislators:
Now is the time to call on our national leaders to reject anti-immigrant, anti-asylum, and anti-family legislation and instead invest in concrete solutions that expand our capacity to welcome those fleeing violence, oppression, and natural disasters.
Contact your two Senators and your specific Representative. Send them a simple and direct message about this matter. They can still influence the process. The Senate in particular.
In recent years and across administrations, a politics of fear has driven a cycle of reactive, punitive policies that dehumanize migrants and erode legal protections for asylum seekers. Title 42 is unique in its cruelty, but in some ways, it was a natural evolution of the inhumane, deterrence-based approaches that have too often characterized U.S. policies with respect to how we treat people seeking safety. The end of Title 42 provides us with a singular opportunity to free ourselves from this cycle and begin to employ humane solutions that would both effectively manage the border and meaningfully welcome those seeking protection.
In late February 2023, the Biden administration, specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ), issued a proposed administrative rule that, while providing some additional pathways for migrants, would effectively bar from asylum most of the migrants who arrive at our southern border (U.S.-Mexico). The rule means any migrant that crossed the border without authorization and who did not seek asylum in a third country that they traveled through on the way to the U.S. will be presumed ineligible for asylum. This new rule (DHS Final Rule), which was published in final form on May 11, 2023 (Sec. Mayorkas), will place an extra burden on vulnerable migrants, especially those fleeing danger and harm.
The new rule is viewed as a violation of Biden’s campaign promise for a just asylum system. It seems to draw inspiration from policies of the prior administration (Human Rights First)(The Guardian)(Politico)(Religion News Service). The new rule includes two asylum restrictions (in effect an asylum “transit ban” and an asylum “entry ban”) that were repeatedly struck down by federal courts for denying the fundamental right to seek protection. The rule would seem to make it nearly impossible for non-Mexican migrants who arrive at the border to access asylum, finding a process tilted against them, a process lacking compassion and dignity, a process designed to send them back––often back to danger. "[It] is too close to systemic curtailment of legal pathways. We can, and must, do better. The United States can do better.”
U.S. and international law explicitly guarantee the right to seek asylum. That is the right to make the case for protection from persecution. The proposed rule violates that basic legal tenet and sets a horrific global standard led by the U.S.
On May 11, 2023, the public health emergency associated with COVID-19 ended, and this also ended the cruel and unlawful use of Title 42 at the border. Yet advocacy work remains to be done.
Now is the time to call on our national leaders to reject anti-immigrant, anti-asylum, and anti-family legislation and instead invest in concrete solutions that expand our capacity to welcome those fleeing violence, oppression, and natural disasters.
Contact your two Senators and your specific Representative. Send them a simple and direct message about this matter. They can still influence the process. The Senate in particular.
Let us ask for a welcoming system.