FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that starting on May 23, it will end the widely condemned Title 42 immigrant expulsion policy. Under the guise of public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Title 42 had been used to shut down the U.S. legal asylum system, expelling migrants to Mexico or their home countries before they had a chance to make their case for protection under our laws.
The policy was first implemented under the Trump administration despite protests and opinions of public health experts asserting the fact that Title 42 has no scientific basis. President Biden kept this policy in place, disregarding the science and the thousands of stories of violence, abuse, and extortion experienced by people blocked from seeking asylum and safe refuge in the U.S. because of Title 42. The decision to end Title 42 came after the CDC conducted its latest 60-day review of the policy.
Nayomi Valdez, director of public policy at the ACLU of New Mexico, issued the following statement:
“We welcome the CDC’s long-overdue decision to listen to the science and end the cruel Title 42 policy. For too long, Title 42 has been used to pointlessly and cruelly expel people seeking refuge at our borders for what was clearly a matter of political expediency. The U.S. can and must rebuild its legal asylum system and create an orderly, safe, and fair process for people to request asylum in our country that includes providing adequate funding for community-based alternatives to detention. Anything less is unacceptable and will only perpetuate the harms of a broken system.”
“Congress must work to rebuild an asylum system that lives up to America’s highest ideals and is able to handle the challenges of the 21st century.”
