San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
No justifying how Biden is failing those at the border
Forget the American dream — the shameful manner our country has treated asylum-seekers from Haiti is a nightmare.
The expulsion of about 2,000 Haitian immigrants without due process for asylum is a stain on the Biden administration, just as it is monumentally hypocritical. After all, the administration has extended temporary protection status for Haitians who have been in the U.S. since July 29, citing gang violence, political instability, food insecurity and political chaos. And yet it flew thousands of asylumseekers at the border back to these very conditions.
The stunning and cruel images last week of some 15,000 Haitian immigrants at the Texas-Mexico border town of Del Rio were heartbreaking and disturbing. At least one U.S. Border Patrol agent on horseback appears to use his reins as a whip. RAICES Texas, an immigration nonprofit, compared border agents on horseback rounding up Haitians to slave patrols.
While conservative Cary Clack: God’s work on the border. A17 critics Mark P. Jones: How, and why, migrant of the Biden caravans form. administration Josh Brodesky: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick undermines have nation’s ideals. A18 labeled this caravan a “surge” and “invasion,” we see it as the culmination of an international humanitarian crisis, reflecting an administration that has failed to deliver on humane immigration reform.
The Trump administration set the bar low for immigration — family separation, Remain in Mexico, the use of Title 42 to expel asylum-seekers during the pandemic — yet the Biden administration also continues to fail asylum-seekers. There is no justification for the harsh treatment of those who deserve due process.
America sent thousands of Haitians to their ravaged country, which suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010, flash floods and mudslides; is plagued by gang violence, poverty and food insecurity; and has been rocked by the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, an authoritarian figure.
According to a Houston Chronicle article by Elizabeth Trovall, recent unrest led to the exodus of some Haitians, but many who arrived at the U.S.Mexico border were living in South America, especially Chile. However, since 2016, tens of thousands of Haitians have left Chile and other Latin American countries because of changing immigration policies, unstable economies, racism and xenophobia, with many making their way to the United States.
In his Feb. 2 statement outlining steps to reform the U.S. immigration system, Biden promised to keep families together, address the root causes of irregular migration and streamline the legal immigration system. But Biden has continued the Title 42 Trump-era policy that claims to limit the spread of the coronavirus by denying due process.
In a Sept. 18 statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the majority of migrants continue to be expelled under Title 42: “Our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey.”
By the end of the week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had said the Del Rio encampment had been cleared. But 2,000 migrants were expelled to Haiti and 8,000 are waiting in Mexico.
What’s needed is for the nation to consistently honor the due process afforded to asylum-seekers and muster the political will to update asylum law, pass comprehensive immigration reform and address the root causes of exodus.
Wishful thinking, we know. But given how politicized immigration is in this nation, and how inconsistent the Biden administration is on this issue, wishful thinking is all we have. A humanitarian crisis merits a humanitarian response.
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