Two years of waiting, two years of injustice, two years of suffering. Title 42 must end!

Last Monday, March 21, 2022, asylum seekers took to the streets of Nogales to protest against the second anniversary of Title 42 by reenacting Jesus' journey to the cross, also known as the Stations of the Cross in the Christian tradition. Migrants marched, sang and prayed as they drew parallels between Jesus' passion and death and asylum seekers' experiences of rejection, violence and death at the hands of U.S. and Mexican authorities.

What you should know:

• Title 42 is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) public health statute for determining whether a contagious disease in a foreign country poses a serious danger of spreading in the United States.
• The policy of using "Title 42," an obscure public health law, to override our asylum laws was created by Trump but has been embraced and defended in court by the Biden administration.
• For two years, the U.S. government has shamefully employed Title 42 to expel asylum-seeking children and families, knowingly putting them at risk of well-documented dangers including extortion, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
• The Biden administration should immediately end the Title 42 policy, uphold refugee law, and provide all children, families and adults seeking protection access to a safe and fair asylum process.
• For more information, please check this video from RAICES, which explains the detrimental effects of the past two years of Title 42.

Title 42: Impact on Asylum Seekers:

• Over 1.2 million expulsions.
• Expulsions often happening in the middle of the night.
• No opportunity to request asylum or a CFI.
• Often no opportunity for medical care.
• Expelled migrants have reported 7,000 instances of kidnappings, sexual attacks, and violent attacks.
• Title 42 disproportionately impacts black migrants. Over 8500 Haitians have been expelled.
• 81% of LGBTQI asylum seekers expelled to MX experience various forms of violence
• Lateral Flights.

Messaging:

• Title 42 and MPP must immediately end.
• We need to honor our national and international legal obligations and restore our asylum system.
• We can safeguard public health while processing asylum seekers at the border.
• We are willing and ready to welcome and provide services to asylum seekers.
• Title 42 is not only a border issue, asylum seekers come through the border but reside at all parts of the United States.