Inhumane, Racist Policy Title 42 Must End Now

Communities United for Status and Protection Statement on the injunction to block the termination of Title 42

Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), a national collaborative of grassroots immigrant community organizations, denounces the injunction by Judge Robert R. Summerhays to block Title 42 from terminating on Monday, May 23.

Under the false guise of public health, Republican Attorney Generals coordinated legal action against the Biden-Harris administration to uphold the ban on entry of asylum-seekers under the policy indefinitely. As a collaborative representing African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Arab/Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants, we know all too well the double standards by which this country’s immigration policies are applied to Black and Brown immigrants and call on the administration to quickly seek a stay for the injunction and to hold steadfast to their commitment of racial equity under their leader. 

We stand shoulder to shoulder in resistance to the continuation of racist, anti-Black policies that affect our membership. 

Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Haitian Bridge Alliance said: “Haitian Bridge Alliance has been advocating for an end to this Trump-era policy since April 2020 as a response to the increased expulsions of Haitian asylum seekers. In just a little over a year under this administration, over 23,000 people, including pregnant women and children have been sent to Haiti, most being expelled. Judge Summerhays is not only upholding a policy that runs contrary to both domestic and international laws, the Judge also decided to uphold a racist policy that returns our most vulnerable individuals to danger. We ask for the Biden-Harris administration to keep their promise to immigrants and their families by ensuring a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. This begins with an immediate push to seek a stay of this injunction. We also call on all democratic-elected leaders to stand on the right side of history by not supporting the Lankford-Sinema bill, which would keep Title 42 in place, thereby continuing to shut the border and expel asylum seekers without access to seek asylum.” 

Since the implementation of Title 42 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been used to cruelly expel over a million people to countries experiencing dangerous conditions or along the Southern border, despite the CDC’s decision to rescind the order and opposition by public health experts. We also call on the administration to immediately halt any more deportation flights to Haiti, which is now up to 7 flights a day from the United States and the only country to be receiving flights on weekends under the guise of Title 42.

We cannot condemn Title 42 without denouncing the unjust removal of Haitians. We are calling on Congress and the administration to live by our values and equally welcome those who come to our country seeking safety with dignity and respect. 

Haddy Gassama, National Director of Policy and Advocacy at UndocuBlack said: “As a network of Black immigrants, we are all too familiar with this country’s history of anti-Blackness within the immigration system and all systems of policy making at large. The adoption of Title 42 was rooted in white supremacist motives and the desire to ban access to asylum from the southern border. Title 42 has never been about public health. We cannot separate the uptick in white nationalist violence within the interior of the country and the violence of Title 42 at the border. Black and Brown lives are at risk in both of these interlinked ideologies and policies. To that end, we urge the Biden-Harris administration to keep the promises they made just last week in response to the massacre in Buffalo, to honor and protect Black lives, by pursuing a stay on  this cruel injunction. The administration must continue to pursue a full termination of Title 42, with a  commitment to rebuilding the U.S. asylum system in a manner that does not disproportionately harm any particular demographic over others.” 

This administration campaigned on promises to end inhumane, draconian Trump border policies, uphold U.S. laws and treaty obligations to protect refugees and immigrant children, and adopt COVID-19 measures based on science.

We call on the Biden-Harris administration to fulfill those promises and reflect the values of this country by welcoming those seeking asylum inside the United States with compassion and dignity.

Diana Konaté, Policy Director at African Communities Together said: “This is not only disappointing, it is a true betrayal. Title 42 has allowed for state-sanctioned discrimination and attacks against all migrants at the border, but in particular, Black migrants who have been seeking refuge in the U.S. This should have been a moment of relief and a victory for our communities celebrating the Biden-Harris administration’s reversal of the draconian Trump-era policy. Instead, we are faced with a continued reminder of the ways in which racist policies like this are continued to be upheld and valued by those that are supposed to represent and defend us.” 

Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP) is a collaborative of grassroots immigrant community organizations working together to win permanent status for our members and communities, and build a more inclusive immigrant rights movement that centers the needs and experiences of African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Arab/Middle Eastern, and API immigrants.

The UndocuBlack Network (UBN), founded in 2016, is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access to resources and contributes to transforming the realities of our people so we are thriving and living our fullest lives. UBN has chapters in New York City, the DC/MD/VA area, and Los Angeles, CA.

Adhikaar (Nepali: rights) is a New York-based non-profit, organizing the Nepali-speaking community to promote human rights and social justice for all. We are a women-led workers’ center and community center focused on workers’ rights, immigration rights, access to affordable healthcare and language justice. We organize the Nepali-speaking community to create broader social change; build coalitions on advocacy campaigns that address our community’s needs; center women and the most impacted communities in our leadership; engage members in participatory action research; and implement community education, workplace development training, and support services.

African Communities Together (ACT) is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for our families here in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT empowers African immigrants to integrate socially, get ahead economically, and engage civically. We connect African immigrants to critical services, help Africans develop as leaders, and organize our communities on the issues that matter.

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides  bond support and humanitarian, legal, and other social services, with a particular focus on Black immigrants, the Haitian community, women, LGBTQAI+ individuals and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. Since 2015, HBA has provided services to asylum seekers and other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, in U.S. detention, and during U.S. immigration proceedings.

National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) is a national consortium of independent Arab American community-based organizations. The Network’s primary mission is to build the capacity of Arab American non-profit organizations that focus on the needs and issues impacting their local community while collectively addressing those issues nationally.