NEW YORK, NY – Caribbean American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke and the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) have welcomed the Biden administration’s termination of a Trump-era coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic policy that denied refugees the right to seek asylum.
Critics said the policy – known as Title 42, introduced by former US President Donald J. Trump – was blatantly discriminatory.
“As the daughter of immigrants and a lifelong advocate for their fair chance and access to the American dream, the Biden administration’s decision to lift the harmful, malicious, and discriminatory policy that is Title 42 is a welcome blessing and one that I have long awaited,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“While this policy endured, countless hopeful migrants suffered under its authority, as we circumvented our international and domestic law obligations. This harmful policy disproportionately affected Black migrants and created life-threatening conditions for immigrants seeking refuge at our borders.
“Untold unaccompanied children, families, asylum seekers; none were spared the denial of due process entitled to them by law,” said Clarke.
She said though it is difficult and, perhaps, impossible to undo “this pain caused by Title 42, I hope that its end will signal the beginning of a national commitment to compassionately and safely welcome new Americans to our country.
“But let me be clear: our nation owes these communities, particularly the Haitian people who were disproportionately and vastly victimized under its cruelty, more than the apologies and empty words they are so tragically accustomed to. They deserve our promise for a better, more accepting, more loving future. And I intend to keep it.”
NYIC’s executive director, Murad Awawdeh, told CMC that “America’s immigration system has been broken for far too long, which is why the Biden administration’s long-overdue decision to end Title 42 encourages the first step on the road to creating a much more humane asylum system.
“However, the termination of the policy does not come soon enough for the thousands of asylum seekers who were expelled under Title 42 and remained in harm’s way,” added Awawdeh, whose organization is an umbrella policy and advocacy group for more than 200 immigration groups in New York State.
“The Biden administration must immediately expedite the effective termination date of Title 42, ensure the safety and dignity of migrants, and halt all expulsions of asylum seekers into danger, working in close coordination with the many groups and communities who stand ready to welcome them.
“It’s time that America upholds its international obligations to welcome those fleeing from violence, poverty, and destruction and provide them with the safe harbor they deserve,” Awawdeh said.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement on Friday that, “following a thorough reassessment,” its director was issuing “a Public Health Determination and terminating an Order … suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States”.
The CDC said that in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the termination would be implemented on May 23 this year to enable DHS time to implement appropriate COVID-19 mitigation protocols.
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