Title 42 Stalled Immigration in the Name of COVID-19
It's coming to an end, finally giving immigrants at the American border hope
After over two years of being used to turn refugees away from American borders, Title 42 is finally being put to an end on May 23rd. The Biden administration's plan to repeal Title 42 has received both applause and backlash from across the country. Despite personal opinions, the matter of fact is that Title 42 is not backed up by scientific evidence and therefore should cease to exist.
Title 42: Restricting Immigration in the Name of COVID-19
But what is title 42? At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, section 265 of Title 42 was implemented by the Trump administration to limit immigration during the pandemic. It presented immigration, specifically by asylum seekers and migrants, as potentially increasing the spread of COVID-19 in the nation.
The justification behind this idea was the fact that immigrants were forced to live in close quarters with each other at detention centers and at borders, allowing them to be at high risk of spreading COVID-19. CDC Director Robert Redfield implemented Title 42 on March 20, 2020, to then categorize migrants at the American borders as “high-risk” and they instantly began being turned away.
In March, Title 42 was implemented as an interim regulation but by September of 2020, it was published in a final version. Since then, Title 42 has been used at the borders extensively to turn away migrants, reject them from waitlists, and force people to return to violence in other countries.
The Effects of Title 42
Title 42 has been used to turn away 60% of migrants at the American between April 2020 and August 2021. It has been used over 1.7 million times at the borders to turn away immigrants over the past two years, a significant increase from earlier years as seen in the graph below. The effectiveness of this law at curbing COVID-19 rates is unclear but its ability to deter immigrant access to this nation is clear. Refugees, women, children, and victims of violence have all been turned away from the borders as this law is implemented.
Not only have new migrants been turned away from the borders, but those on waitlists to enter the United States have also been told to return to their home countries. Implementation of title 42 in March 2020 instantly pushed 15,000 immigrants off waiting lists for asylum and required them to leave the country. Those who were initially promised a better life in the United States had their hopes crushed and their guarantees broken, after spending many a day in detention centers and ports with the expectation of being granted asylum.
Thousands of people have been forced to return to their home countries, many in the Caribbean and Central America have become victims of violence. Many are already targets of violence in their communities (hence the need to escape) and others become targets of violence for attempting to escape and/or return to the country. In Mexico itself, almost 10,000 individuals who failed to receive asylum under Title 42 became subject to kidnappings, assaults, rapes, and violent attacks.
Furthermore, the most impacted demographic by the implementation of Title 42 is actually black people. Haitians and other black asylum seekers have been turned away from the borders at significantly higher rates than other immigrants attempting to gain entrance to the United States in other ways.
Title 42 Comes to an End as CDC takes a stance
The end of Title 42 has taken time. It began with an end of Title 42 restrictions on unaccompanied immigrant minors. After 3 rounds of modification, Title 42 was terminated for children as of March 4, 2022. They were deemed to pose an insignificant risk to the health of the nation and spread of COVID-19, considering all immigrants required medical clearance to enter the country anyways.
This same case has been made to allow adult immigrants and families to also enter the country without having to face Title 42 restrictions. The United States Department of Homeland Security and Trump Administration mainly enforced Title 42 through the CDC, despite numerous scientists rejecting the logic behind it. Numerous other travelers were being allowed into the country, those with foreign visas and citizens returning from leisure trips for example, so it didn’t make sense to bar immigrants simply for making a different sort of passage.
Additionally, there are already existing facilities to deal with potential COVID-19 spread at the borders that don’t involve turning away immigrants. For the immigrants who are not expelled, COVID-19 testing and transportation are provided by the government. These services in addition to vaccinations allow for select few immigrants to enter the country safely already and have the potential to be expanded to accommodate all other immigrants as well.
Change Occurs at the Border over the Next Few Weeks
In fact, starting the first week of April, the Department of Homeland Security has begun offering COVID-19 vaccinations to immigrants at the border seeking asylum as preparation for the repeal of Title 42. This allows for the safe entry of the immigrants into the nation and helps protect both those in the country and the immigrants themselves from COVID-19.
There will no longer be a need to limit the “introduction of communicable diseases” through extraordinary measures, as written in Title 42, through severe immigration restrictions. Once Title 42 is repealed, the Department of Homeland Security will return to using only Title 8 to detain immigrants and reject requests for asylum, Under Title 8, legal quotas restrict who can enter the country, and requests for asylum must have a meaningful reason behind them.
Immigration at the border is prepared to almost double as more people begin to seek legal asylum in the United States. Already, there has been a rise in arrests at the border over the past few months as more people hear about the easing of immigration laws and attempt to make the move, whether through legal or illegal means. The now 7100 immigrants coming daily to the border is predicted to increase to almost 18,000. Immigration officials at the borders and detention centers are preparing to handle this increase with reinforcements and COVID-19 protocols.
The end of Title 42 has been much awaited by immigrants hoping to gain access to the United States in hopes of a better life. COVID-19 can no longer be used as an excuse to prevent people from seeking asylum in this country that was built on immigrants. Hopefully, the end of Title 42 signifies more than just a slow end to the pandemic but also an end to hatred and brutality towards immigrants, specifically at the American borders.