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Dear John,
After two years, the Biden administration announced it would end Title 42 at the border, a public health authority that was never really about preventing the spread of COVID-19. Instead, Title 42 has been used over 1.7 million times to rapidly expel arriving migrants without offering them the chance to seek humanitarian protection — principally asylum — under U.S. law. The policy was slated to end on May 23, but both an ongoing court challenge and pending legislation in Congress risk delaying the entire process.
Some have argued that while Title 42 may not be a long-term solution, it is necessary right now to help respond to increases in migration. But use of the policy is actually responsible for many of the problems at our border. Title 42 has inflated the number of attempted border crossings, enabled cartels and smugglers, and brought about dangerous and dehumanizing consequences for migrants: including almost 10,000 documented cases of kidnappings, rapes, and violent assaults
perpetrated against those expelled to Mexico. It is an ineffective and cruel policy that has only made the border less secure.
We can do so much better. Our new resource highlights 42 distinct border solutions that are not Title 42. These sustainable, practical policies would create a more orderly, secure, and humane border by improving asylum processes, addressing the root causes of migration, and implementing needed border security reforms. Read the full list of 42 potential border solutions here.
Keeping a failed policy that forces migrants into life-threatening conditions is not the answer. But we do need a proactive and sustainable plan to replace Title 42. Without reform, our border infrastructure will continue to be strained by security, logistical, and humanitarian complications.
Danilo Zak
Policy & Advocacy Manager
National Immigration Forum
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