John,

From vaccines, to testing, to treatment, none of these critical COVID response tools would be possible without government funding.

With the administration projecting another COVID surge in the fall and winter, what is stopping Congress from acting now to fully fund our COVID response?

Not surprisingly, Mitch McConnell and a bipartisan group of conservative senators are holding up COVID funding, demanding we keep in place a racist, anti-immigrant policy from the Trump-era known as Title 42.

Title 42 has resulted in more than 1.7 million immigrants being blocked or expelled from the U.S.―mostly targeting Black and brown immigrants from Brazil, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Mexico.

John, write to your U.S. senators and demand they pass a COVID supplemental aid package immediately, and drop their demands around Title 42!

Title 42 (part of a public health law enacted in 1944) was invoked to block immigrants from entering the U.S. from countries where COVID-19 is present, including refugees and asylum seekers―even as senior scientists at the Centers for Disease Control as well as leading epidemiologists and medical experts have objected to its use.

This policy has never been about public health. It’s a cruel practice that violates domestic law and international treaty obligations.

Now, a federal judge has placed a temporary hold on the Biden Administration’s plan to end this misuse of Title 42. But that does not mean senators will stop pushing an amendment to continue using Title 42 indefinitely, further stalling the COVID funding bill.

Tell your U.S. senators to pass a COVID supplemental aid package and immediately drop their demands around Title 42.

Together, we’re fighting for a COVID response at home and abroad, which includes funds to keep us prepared for the ongoing pandemic and for the humane treatment of all people seeking peace and safety at our borders.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs