The Biden Administration Must Restore Safe and Just Asylum

April 1, 2022 | Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1st, 2022

 

CONTACT: Alexandra Gulden

alexandra@quixote.org

301-699-0042

 

The Biden Administration Must Restore Safe and Just Asylum

Washington D.C.—Today, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issued a new order terminating the Title 42 order on May 23rd. Under the Trump-era policy, U.S. border officials were allowed to summarily expel or turn away over a million migrants and asylum seekers. The Quixote Center issued the following statement in response:

“We applaud CDC Director Rochelle Walensky for heeding the calls of immigration advocates, public health experts, and over 100 members of Congress in honoring the promise to end Title 42 once and for all. The Title 42 order was never about protecting public health, but rather a means to deny largely Black and Brown migrants the ability to seek asylum, a universal human right.

“This policy has caused irreparable harm. In two years, U.S. immigration officials have carried out over 1.7 million expulsions, the majority of these under the Biden Administration. As a result, there have been nearly 10,000 cases of violent attacks against asylum seekers, including kidnapping, torture, murder, and assault. The Administration has sent back over 20,000 Haitians, including pregnant women, children, and infants, since January of 2021.

“We also call on the Biden Administration to cease treating asylum seekers as criminals, and instead approach vulnerable children, families, and single adults with the dignity and care that they deserve. Between now and May 23rd, the Biden administration must extend to Black and Brown migrants fleeing violence in their home countries the very same welcoming that has been given to Ukrainian refugees.

“Now is the time to ensure that asylum seekers will no longer be expelled back to the dangers they are fleeing, detained in inhumane conditions, or subjected to invasive surveillance. Over the next two months, we call on the Biden Administration to work with service providers, communities, and advocates to safely welcome migrants and asylum seekers and process their claims as stipulated under U.S. and international law.”

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The Quixote Center empowers vulnerable families and communities to become the artisans of their own destiny through transforming oppressive systems and structures. Inspired by liberation theology and Catholic Social Teaching, we do this through sustainable development, advocacy, economic justice, environmental, and educational initiatives. Our current focus is on Nicaragua and Haiti, where we support programs to empower impoverished families and communities, and support for migrants in Mexico and Central America, where we work to mitigate the damage of US immigration policies. Together with our partners, we dream of a world more justly loving.