After 51 migrants were found dead in San Antonio, immigration advocates urge the Biden administration to end Title 42

Carlow Eduardo Espina places roses on a memorial at the site where officials found suspected migrants dead in a semitrailer, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in San Antonio. AP Photo/Eric Gay Title 42 is a public health order that allows the government to turn away migrants seeking asylum in the event of a pandemic. The order was supposed to be lifted on May 23, but a federal judge ruled to keep the policy in place.

On June 27, at least 51 migrants were found dead in San Antonio after being stuck in an overheated tractor-trailer. At least 51 people believed to be migrants died after being found in an overheated, abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, June 27. They were thought to be migrants crossing the border into the US; Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said in a tweet that the victims include citizens from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.

It is thought to be one of the most fatal cases of migrant deaths near the southern border in recent years. In a tweet, President Joe Biden said that his “administration will continue to do everything possible to stop criminal smugglers from exploiting migrants. “However, immigration advocates told Insider that they are frustrated that the Biden administration has not done more to end Title 42, an emergency public health order that allows the government to turn away migrants seeking asylum because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts believe that Title 42 has caused more cases of human smuggling across the border, resulting in injuries and fatalities like the incident in San Antonio. “Allowing Title 42 to continue and other egregious policies for migrants is racist, hypocritic[al], and deadly,” Patrice Lawrence, executive director of UndocuBlack Network wrote in a statement to Insider. “The migrants who perished in the truck in San Antonio, Texas should have been met with compassionate policies.

They were not. They should be alive today and together with their loved ones. They are not.

“Title 42 was set to end in May. In April, the Biden administration announced that it would be terminating Title 42, a public health order under the Public Health Service Act enacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that allows the federal government to turn away migrants seeking asylum in the event of a pandemic or epidemic. However, after 24 state attorney generals sued the administration, a Federal judge in Louisiana issued a ruling blocking the CDC from ending Title 42.

The extension was supposed to be lifted on May 23, 2022; however, Title 42 still remains in place. “I would say for Black migrants, that is a place of dignified rage, is the best way to put it. I think disappointment is putting it too mildly,” Haddy Gassama, National Director of Policy and Advocacy at UndocuBlack Network, told Insider.

“Frustration is, I think, a little too polite. “April 2022 saw the highest amount of border encounters on record at the U. S.

southern border, according to US Customs and Border Protection. The Biden administration has also expelled migrants under Title 42 at twice the rate of the Trump administration. As far as Biden’s overall grade on immigration, advocates said there has been an increase in legalization for people who are already in the country.

However, they believe Biden has not lived up to what he promised. After the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, President Biden affirmed that his administration would prioritize racial justice in all of his policies, including immigration. Immigration advocates say that has not been the case.

“I think what’s disheartening for us is that Biden very much ran on a platform around racial equity. And, for us, our tagline is that immigration is a Black issue. And we feel that oftentimes his policies don’t reflect some of those sentiments,” Gassama said.

Advocates say the Biden administration can do more, even after the extension of Title 42. Louisiana US District Court Judge, Robert Summerhays, a Trump appointee, sided with the 24 states, stating the Biden administration must launch a notice-and-comment process in order to remove the policy in what’s called the Administrative Procedure Act. Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, said the administration can issue a stay of the injunction, pass an executive order and wait for it to be challenged in court or follow the procedural grounds stated by Judge Summerhays under the Administrative Procedure Act since removing the policy still has merit.

 The Biden administration has filed an appeal to Judge Summerhays’ ruling.  “I think initially it might have been defensible just because they have a lot of restrictions placed on travel to the United States by air, by road, in any case, but I think the more after we got the vaccination and after the travel restrictions on airfare and travel, particularly, were loosened, it became less and less defensible,” Chishti told Insider.  Advocate said the Biden administration has extended protective status to those already in the US.

While immigration advocates are frustrated with the Biden administration’s immigration policies, particularly with regards to people seeking asylum, Christi said the administration has been responsive to accepting Afghan refugees and extending Temporary Protected Status to Haitians and Cameroonians who are living in the US. For people already in the country, the administration has reeled back on deportations and is accepting more green card applications than the Trump administration.  “With the exception of Title 42, it’s hard to see a more pro-immigration administration,” Chishti told Insider.

“Immigration advocates are focused on two things that the Biden administration was expected to improve. One is the situation on the border, and the other was sort of trying to get legalization for 11 million unauthorized people in the country. “Looking ahead to midterms.

As far as what is next for immigration advocates, Gassama said they are looking ahead to the midterms this year and the general election in 2024. “What’s disheartening for us is that Biden very much ran on a platform around racial equity,” Gassama told Insider. “I think, on the one hand, the injunction is terrible that, you know, these sort of Republican states and attorneys general are using their power, and these Trump-appointed federal judges are using their power to effectively ban asylums at the border.

But on the other hand, I think the slowness of [the Biden] administration to even respond when these things happen, again, is an example of their apathy. “Read the original article on Insider.