For Immediate Release: April 1, 2022
Contact: Audrey Carroll, [email protected], 202-601-7875
Catholic Lobby Calls for Immediate End of Title 42
Ronnate Asirwatham: “President Biden has heard faith leaders, immigrants, and advocates calling to end the Title 42 expulsion policy. However, we are dismayed by the decision to delay the termination of this policy. For asylum seekers, delay means danger and death.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Biden administration announced that the Title 42 expulsion policy would end at the U.S.-Mexico border on May 23, 2022.
The public health order, first invoked by the Trump administration and continued by the Biden administration, has been misused for over two years to illegally block migrants at the U.S. Southern border under the guise of preventing the spread of coronavirus – even though public health experts repeatedly declared the order has no true medical basis or justification. Title 42 has resulted in over 1.6 million expulsions of asylum seekers back to harm and over 10,000 incidents of kidnapping, torture, rape, and other violent attacks against vulnerable migrants.
Ronnate Asirwatham, Director of Government Relations at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, said:
“It is a relief to hear that President Biden plans to end the misuse of Title 42. Catholic Social Justice demands that we care for our neighbor, especially those who flee from threats of violence and death and seek a better life for themselves and their families.
“President Biden has heard faith leaders, immigrants, and advocates calling to end the Title 42 expulsion policy. However, we are dismayed by the decision to delay the termination of this policy. For many asylum seekers, especially Black immigrants at our southern border, delay means danger and death.
“The Biden administration has had two years to prepare for the end of Title 42. We call on Administration to work with our faith and secular colleagues who are ready to welcome immigrants at the border as partners in order to restore a humane and just asylum system.”
Title 42 has caused unnecessary harm to migrants at the Southern border, violating the internationally recognized right to seek asylum. In December, more than 80 Catholic Sisters from across the country held a rally outside the White House to protest the continuation of the inhumane and xenophobic Trump-era policy.
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NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice – advocates for justice inspired by Catholic Sisters – educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. They have a 50-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org