In November, a federal court ruled that the continuation of Title 42 is in violation of U.S. law, alongside a plan to end the Title 42 policy on December 21st. Title 42, the inhumane and unlawful Trump-era policy that continued under the Biden administration, was used as a false public health order to expel millions of vulnerable individuals seeking refuge at the southern border without due process. CWS welcomed the long overdue end of this policy and encouraged the current administration to accept the decision without delay.
Despite the ruling, the administration is now considering other harmful and immoral approaches to block thousands of asylum seekers seeking safety and protection in the United States. It is critical that we urge Congress to call out the administration for considering an asylum transit ban and other anti-asylum policies that wrongfully replicate the previous administration’s inhumane treatment of vulnerable asylum seekers. Now is an important time to tell Congress to hold the administration accountable to deliver on its promise to restore an orderly, welcoming, and just asylum system, to invest in community-based case management for asylum seekers, and to scale up access to the life-saving U.S. resettlement program.
Contact Your 2 Senators and 1 Representative Today!
On the right-hand side, you can send an email that connects you to your Members of Congress.
Sample Email/Script: “I’m your constituent from [city/town], and [a faith leader/refugee leader/community member]. With a federal court ruling that the continuation of Title 42 is in violation of U.S. law, I urge you to reject any congressional efforts to extend or codify Title 42 or otherwise dismantle our asylum system.
Since the ruling last month, while ending Title 42 is supported by American communities, reports indicate that the administration is planning on other punitive, deterrence-based approaches to block migrants from seeking safety and protection in the United States. Title 42 has blocked thousands of asylum seekers from pursuing their legal claims, forcing them back to perilous conditions in Mexico or returning them to the very countries they have fled. Despite pledging to end Title 42 earlier this year, the policy has continued to cause disproportionate harm to Haitians, Venezuelans, and other Black asylum seekers.
This expulsion policy violates our moral and legal obligations to welcome those fleeing violence and persecution — and it has illuminated racial bias by disproportionately harming Black, Brown, and Indigenous asylum seekers. Human rights advocates have documented more than 10,000 violent attacks – including kidnappings, serious assaults, and deaths – against individuals who were expelled to or blocked in Mexico due to Title 42 since the beginning of the Biden administration.
Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. Title 42 is not intended to be used as a migration tool, and the Biden administration embracing a failed and immoral policy that rapidly expels people to danger, denying them their legal right to seek asylum, is appalling. Title 42 expulsions violate U.S. and international law, have no basis as a public health measure, and return people seeking asylum to grave human rights abuses. People seek asylum at the U.S. border because it is their last, best chance at survival.
I urge you to strongly reject any congressional efforts to extend or codify Title 42 or other policies that erode asylum protections. I also urge you to ensure that the Biden administration does not replace Title 42 with other punitive, ineffective policies that cause similar harm, like expanding expedited removal or blocking asylum seekers from pursuing safety. Additionally, the end of Title 42 must not be accompanied by an expansion in the use of immigration detention, which has been shown to be unnecessary and costly as well as retraumatizing to those coming to our country in search of safety.
My community welcomes all asylum seekers and I urge you to do the same. Thank you.”
Amplify on Social Media: Amplify this message on social media using the sample social posts below and these graphics:
- Title 42 is immoral and undermines refugee protection laws. We must restore a working and just asylum system! #EndTitle42
- Title 42 expulsions:
➡️ violates U.S. and international law
➡️ has no basis as a public health measure
➡️ returns people seeking asylum to grave human rights abuses
We must protect Asylum Seekers so they can find safety in the U.S.
Resources:
- Five Ways That Immigration Prosecutions Are Ineffective And Deadly
- Fact Sheet: Immigration Prosecutions By The Numbers
- The Venezuela Parole Program Excludes More Than Protects: An Update On Biden’s Title 42 Asylum Ban
- Newly Released Records Show Abusive Policies Continue Under Guise Of Deterrence
- 5 Facts About Title 42: Why Congress Should Not Codify The Trump-Era Expulsion Policy
- Human Rights First: New Report Details Transit Ban Asylum Denials and Family Separations, Proposed Rule Would Revive Illegal Ban Despite Court Rulings
- Leaders from 89 Organizations Urge the Biden Administration to Build Fair and Humane Asylum System Following End of Title 42
- NILC tweet
- NIJC tweet
- HRF tweet
- WRC tweet
- HRF Press Release
- IIC Press Release
- CWS Press Release
- WWD Press Release
- Americans still support asylum for immigrants fleeing persecution, poll finds
Thank you for taking action, and please share this alert with your networks!