By, BAJI staff

Dear reader, BAJI is running a campaign to demand that the US Senate legislatively end Title 42. But first, some background. 

On April 1st, 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that on May 23rd, 2022 the Biden administration would be ending Title 42, the Trump-era pandemic restrictions that effectively blocked migrants from entering the United States. The administration was responding to years of advocacy from immigrants’ rights groups, including BAJI and directly impacted people against this racist and harmful policy. About 1.8 million people have been expelled and turned away at the border using the racist Title 42 policy. 

A Louisiana judge ruled on May 20th that the Biden administration must continue implementing Title 42. Following this decision BAJI and our allies maintain our everlasting position that the Biden administration and legislators must work toward codifying an end to Title 42. 

DEMANDS 

BAJI has remained steadfast that the racist Title 42 policy should be terminated. With this court injunction, we are demanding that the US Senate MUST CODIFY an END to Title 42. The Senate and the Biden administration must legislatively end this policy. 

Title 42 is supposedly a Covid public health policy, however, as we know the spread of Covid can be mitigated by masking, testing and quarantining as well as making vaccines accessible to migrants. Moreover, migrants at the border are only a small fraction of people moving in and out of the US. 

Members of the Senate who are in favor of keeping Title 42 are affirming the “Great Replacement Theory” narrative and are supporting a policy rooted in white supremacy that claims that Black migrants and immigrants of color are not worthy of coming into the US unlike Ukrainians who continue to receive a red carpet treatment with Title 42 exceptions.

Humane policies

1. Invest in Family Reunification: Allocate additional resources into helping asylum-seekers get away from the border and into the loving arms of our families and communities instead of giving more funding to build more structures and processes that continue to harm asylum-seekers;

    

2. Stop Criminalizing Migration: End all prosecutions for ‘illegal entry’ and ‘illegal re-entry’ instead of prosecuting more people as required by this administration’s current plans. These laws passed by Congress are rooted in racism and criminalize the desperation that the US has caused with its harsh and racist border policy;

    

3. Stop the Surveillance: End surveillance of asylum-seekers at the border. The billions of dollars that the administration is investing in expanding surveillance at the border should be used to support the material needs of migrants crossing the border;

    

4. Stop Deportations and Expulsions: Allow migrants crossing the border to make their claims for asylum and other protections in processes that give them a hearing before a judge, access to effective representation, language accessible information, including timely access to documents and time to prepare. The administration’s plans for expedited removals and proposed asylum officer rules violate the right to asylum;

    

5. Respect the Right to Asylum: Follow the law allowing asylum-seekers to seek asylum and other protections from the country of their choosing. Currently, the US is pressuring Mexico and countries in Central and South America to force migrants traveling through their countries to seek asylum in the US to first seek asylum in these other countries. This is a violation of asylum law;

    

6. Fund Services, Not Silence: Stop setting up immigrant rights organizations at the border to be silent in the face of this administration’s atrocities at the border. Organizations at the border should be free to critique the administration without fear of losing federal funding.

We invite you to join the campaign to raise awareness about the racist implementation of Title 42, and to demand that the Biden administration and legislators reject white supremacy by passing laws and policies that reduce the harm caused to vulnerable Black and brown migrants.