Refugees International Welcomes Today’s Title 42 Decision
Please see below statement from Refugees International U.S. Senior Advocate Yael Schacher:
“Refugees International welcomes a federal court decision today ruling that Title 42, an unjustified COVID-19-related U.S. border expulsion policy, is illegal and harmful.
Since the spring of 2020, Refugees International has called for an end to this policy that has endangered people seeking safety without any public health rationale. Yet, since January, the Biden administration has continued to use it to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Mexico and other countries without any screening about their fear of persecution, let alone for COVID-19.
On a visit to Reynosa last month, I met a pregnant Honduran woman who was expelled under Title 42 and separated from her husband and son in Houston. Another Honduran woman I met had been raped since being expelled. Others in Reynosa, including a man I met from Tigray, have been waiting for months for a chance to seek asylum at the port of entry.
Building back better means creating a system whereby all asylum seekers—children, families, and adults—are given a chance to seek protection rather than be returned to danger. The Biden administration should not appeal today’s decision and should also issue a new termination memo regarding the Remain in Mexico policy.
It’s past time for the Biden administration to re-open ports to asylum seekers and to implement a fair system different from that of the previous administration.”
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Refugees International Director of Communications Sarah Sheffer at ssheffer@refugeesinternational.org or +1 202 540 7029.
PHOTO CAPTION: Father and son pose for a portrait in a migrant camp in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico on July 10, 2021. (Photo by PAUL RATJE / AFP)