Mistake to use health law to bar families seeking asylum
In late July, the Biden administration announced that it will reinstate expedited removal or fast-track deportation for families. This means that within 72 hours, with no opportunity to apply for asylum or any other legal remedy, families will be deposited in dangerous conditions in Mexican border towns.
Karen Beetle is a family therapist and co-coordinator of Capital District Border Watch. She is a former human rights defender in Guatemala and El Salvador.
Families have been met with extortion, kidnapping, rape and even murder by criminal gangs and cartels while waiting to re-enter. Shelters set up by nonprofit groups are inadequate for the number of people waiting in Mexico.
Under Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy, families resorted to sending their children across the border as unaccompanied minors to protect them from harm. Up until July’s policy shift, while almost all single adult migrants have been returned to Mexico under Title 42, many families, especially vulnerable families, received humanitarian protection. Some were allowed to apply for asylum and were able to travel to be with family members already in the U.S. while awaiting a determination in immigration court.
Title 42 is an obscure health law that was used by the Trump administration to halt processing of asylum cases at the Southwest border, purportedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in March 2020, Title 42 virtually
closed the door to most immigrants and asylum-seekers. In total, 875,000 people seeking asylum have been blocked from entering the United States and denied the right to apply for asylum. Although families received some protections, Title 42 caused family separation and detention — and extending it will routinely place families in grave danger.
The Biden administration had been expected to end Title 42 expulsions on July 31. The administration has pledged to end family separation and detention and institute a more humane response to those fleeing harm and seeking safety in the United States.
Seven months into the Biden administration, however, vulnerable families are not faring well. Caught at the border, they have less access to medical care and protective measures against COVID-19. Rather than expanding COVID-19 testing for families and children at the border and providing vaccinations, the Biden administration’s immigration policy is increasing the risk of COVID-19 for these families and for people in this country by creating unsafe conditions at the border.
Meanwhile, Title 42 does not apply to international commerce, those who cross the border to work, or tourists — all of whom are allowed to cross without evoking panic about COVID-19. The border is closed only to asylum seekers and immigrants — many of them people of color.
As the Biden administration advocates for an end to COVID-19 restrictions that prevent America from restarting the economy and resuming normal life, and promotes testing, masks and vaccination as the path forward, why are asylum seekers left behind? Why are vulnerable families being put in further danger because the delta variant rages?
We must return to understanding asylum as a safeguard of our democracy. When terror and violence compel people to flee their homelands in search of safety and refuge, we are called to respond. Our very humanity is at stake.