Biden Administration Says It’s Keeping Pandemic Policy to Expel Asylum Seekers

After a thorough review, the Biden administration decided to continue enforcement of Title 42, a Trump-era restrictive immigration policy that allows officials at the border to deport asylum seekers, forcing them to give up their right to seek legal refuge in the country. according toOfficials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The following are the guidelines most recent authorization of the policyThe policy is to be reviewed by the administration every 60 days, as required by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. The policy has been reviewed by the administration three times. They have decided to keep it in effect every 60 days, citing the Omicron version of COVID-19.

Since March 2020, more than 1.5 million asylum seekers have been expelled under Title 42. Despite Democrats’ promises on the campaign trail to undo Trump’s inhumane immigration policy and make the U.S. a safe haven for asylum seekers, the Biden administration This policy has led to the deportation of more people than the Trump administration. – and it has also enforcedThe policy will continue for longer.

Immigrant advocates are urging the Biden administration not to repeal Title 42. Saying that is cruel is unjustifiableThis has created a humanitarian crisis at its southern border. Public health experts have also expressed concern. called for Biden to end the policy, saying that there’s no evidence that mass expulsions are helping to curb the spread of the virus, which recently reached record highsDespite restrictive migration policies.

Yet, the administration continues to enforce their policy despite the spread of the virus. “The current reassessment examined the present impact of the pandemic throughout the United States and at the U.S. borders, taking special note of the surge in cases and hospitalizations since December due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant,” a CDC spokesperson told CBS News.

Of course, it’s more likely that the administration is keeping the policy because it falls in line with their immigration policy goals; Biden’s Justice Department has been activelyWhile continuing to separate immigrant families in court, the agency continued to defend Title 42. The agency asked federal courts to dismiss two cases involving families that were separated by Trump’s administration. has saidIn public, such families should be compensated.

According to immigrant advocates, the Biden administration deported and expelled over 1.8 millionAs of November, there were approximately 500,000 people. This month, the administration began expelling Venezuelan asylum seekers to Colombia and said that it would continue expelling them on a “regular basis.”

Even worse, the administration has been deporting people without its permission. The Department of Homeland Security warnedAs Haiti is still reeling from last summer’s devastating earthquake, it was suggested last year that the U.S. could deport people to Haiti in violation of its human rights obligations.

Biden began despite this warning. a mass deportation campaignTitle 42 of the Haitian Constitution, which was a move that some administration officials were gratified by ResignThey were fired from their posts for citing the inhumanity and cruelty of the policy.

Biden’s immigration policies have been deeply frustrating for immigrant advocates.

“At a moment when America is honoring and reckoning with Black history, we cannot forget what’s still a present-day reality,” the UndocuBlack Network wrote on TwitterThis week. “It’s time for [Biden] to end Title 42 and end a racist immigration system that has demonized Black people for far too long.”

“I never would have predicted this White House, within Year One, would be expelling Haitians to a failed state,” Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, recently told The Hill.

Democratic lawmakers also urged Bidento stop using Title 42. “The recent reports of the Biden Administration removing Venezuelans through third countries is extremely disturbing,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) saidThis week, he released a statement. “By continuing to use a page from Trump’s immigration enforcement playbook, this administration is turning its back on the immigrants who need our protection the most.”