Supporters also tell the presidents of the United States and Mexico that Title 42 public health policy doesn’t make much sense now that the border is open to non-essential travel.
EL PASO, TX (Border report) – Eighty-three Catholic organizations sent letters to the presidents of Mexico and the United States urging them to end the “Stay in Mexico” policy.
The groups, including the Hope Border Institute in El Paso, are also calling on the United States to end the Title 42 public health rule that speeds up deportations of newly arrived migrants.
“It is shocking that the United States has decided to move forward with the implementation of the MPP and to extend it to countries like Haiti,” the letter to Presidents Biden and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reads. “The consequences of this policy on the safety, dignity and rights of asylum seekers […] are immense and devastating.
MPP, or Migrant Protection Protocols, is the Trump-era practice of quickly sending third-country asylum seekers to wait for their hearings in US court in Mexico, a wait that lasts for months. Migrant advocates say this exposes vulnerable migrants to kidnapping and violence. Faced with a wave of migrants of historic proportions, Biden this week restarted the practice, excluding children and vulnerable populations such as LGBT candidates.
Proponents say these changes are not enough.
“We call on the United States to end this murderous policy as soon as possible and to present an accountability plan, including all necessary measures to ensure that the MPP, or anything like it, does not happen again. never again,” the groups led by Jesuit Refugee said. Service/USA.
They also questioned the logic of keeping the Title 42 policy in place that makes it easier to deport most people crossing the border without proper documentation.
“The recently announced decision to lift travel restrictions to the United States for vaccinated (foreign) persons further underscores the lack of validation of this policy (Title 42),” the Catholic advocates say. “Instead of sending asylum seekers back […] US should offer COVID-19 vaccines […] and allow their asylum claims to proceed.
You can read full letter here.
