Quixote Center works to influence United States policies that impact the people we work with. We advocate with Congress and the Administration to change US foreign policies that exacerbate extreme poverty and vulnerability in Haiti and Nicaragua.  Extreme poverty, violence, and vulnerability lead families to make the heartbreaking decision to migrate, to the United States or elsewhere. We work to address these root causes when they have a US policy solution. We also advocate for immigration policies in the United States that promote the dignity of migrants, focusing on preserving the asylum system. 

Our current priorities include:

  • Ending illegal weapons trafficking to Latin America and the Caribbean, especially Haiti;
  • Ending the use of economic sanctions when they impact the most vulnerable;
  • Transforming global humanitarian assistance;
  • Safeguarding the asylum system;
  • Ending “border externalization” that pressures other countries to adopt policies conforming to US border strategies.

Quixote Center impacts policies through:

  • Encouraging our supporters to send letters to Congress and the Administration;
  • Scheduling in-person meetings with Members of Congress and the Administration;
  • Working in coalition with allied organizations.

 

Past Actions

Quixote Center Denounces Preliminary Injunction on Title 42

Quixote Center Denounces Preliminary Injunction on Title 42; Continues Call for Restoration of Asylum

Washington D.C.—Today a federal court in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's decision to end Title 42. This decision means that the United States Border Patrol is required to continue to expel migrants immediately upon encounter, thus, denying refugees access to asylum or other humanitarian relief.

Resources to help understand the gang violence in Port au Prince

[Warning: This post contains descriptions of extreme violence]

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement on March 17, that read, “Armed violence has reached unimaginable and intolerable levels in Haiti…It is crucial for urgent steps to be taken to restore the rule of law, to protect people from armed violence and to hold to account the political and economic sponsors of these gangs.”

The statement offered the following account of recent violence:

The crisis in Haiti: The United States continues to block reform and the passage of people fleeing

The Biden Administration expelled 450 people to Haiti, including 44 children, 20 of whom were infants, on three flights this week. These flights bring the total to 235 expulsion flights to Haiti since Biden took office, more than 23,000 people in total, and 21,000 in the eight months since the debacle in Del Rio last September. Another 8,000 people were summarily expelled into Mexico during the Del Rio crisis.

Does Biden really want to end Title 42? From Haiti to Nicaragua, it doesn't seem like it

As we've been discussing now for a few weeks, the Biden Administration decided to bring enforcement of Title 42 policies, which enable the US government to expel asylum-seekers without allowing them to apply for asylum, to a close on May 23. The announcement has led to a political backlash from Republicans and even many Democrats. As a result, several GOP attorneys-general sued the Biden administration for ending Title 42 too quickly.

Immigration advocates gather in front of Union Station in Washington D.C. to welcome migrants in a press conference.

Texas joins the Title 42 frenzy

Texas' governor Greg Abbot is putting immigrants on buses to Washington, D.C., apparently as some kind of protest related to the Biden administration's decision to end Title 42. The first bus arrived on Wednesday, April 13, but not at Homeland Security, Congress or the White House. Rather, the bus arrived in front of a building on Capitol Hill that houses several television networks' newsrooms, including Fox.

The Title 42 nightmare may be coming to an end… but what comes next?

“Expelling asylum seekers under Title 42 has not done anything to protect us from COVID” From the Congressional of Dr. Adam Richards, Physicians for Human Rights

Title 42 appears to be on its way out. After two years and 1.8 million expulsions, impacting well over 1 million people, Biden announced, and the CDC confirmed, that Title 42 would end on May 23, 2022.

Quixote Center organized the Vigil to End Title 42 at the CDC offices, Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2022.

Work to End Title 42 Now!

The Centers for Disease Control and Protection the Order Suspending Introduction of Certain Persons from Countries Where a Communicable Disease Exists on March 20, 2020. The order claimed authority under Sections 362 and 365 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, 42 U.S.C.

Biden has deported nearly as many Haitians in his first year as the last three presidents - combined

Biden has expelled nearly as many Haitians in 12 months (20,200+) as were deported during the previous 20 years (22,000-23,000)*** under three different presidents. Indeed, Biden’s administration has likely expelled far more: In addition to these official removal numbers, another estimated 8,000 Haitians were expelled back into Mexico in September of 2021, voluntarily according to DHS Secretary Mayorkas, but in circumstances that make that characterization suspect.

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