Vanessa Cárdenas Medium Op-Ed Urges Biden To Act
Washington, DC – In a new piece published by Medium, Vanessa Cárdenas, Deputy Director of America’s Voice, says that keeping Title 42 in place for most refugees seeking asylum – but suspending it for Ukrainians – has set a double standard within U.S. immigration law that is unsustainable. News reports indicate that the Biden administration is reconsidering the Trump policy to expel asylum seekers without due process or a chance to ask for safety. Still, the reports indicate that the policy could remain in place for most asylum seekers for an additional two months.
In her op-ed for Medium, Cárdenas writes:
[T]he invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin has displaced millions of people and created new refugees. The United States is now seeing the impact of having a border shut off to almost all those who seek safety at our borders.
But now we are witnessing a double-standard of U.S. immigration policies up close: white European refugees being treated one way while thousands of refugees from other countries are treated differently. Haitians and other asylum seekers fleeing violence no less grave or life-threatening than those fleeing Putin’s violence are summarily rejected and deported right back to the countries they fled.
Cárdenas continues:
This stark inequality is a violation of equal treatment that Americans expect from our laws and demand from a Democratic administration that said it would reject the discrimination and overt racism of the previous president. It also violates international law.
President Biden is fond of saying “America leads not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.” In continuing to use Title 42, America is setting up an unjustifiable, arbitrary, and discriminatory example. The Biden-Harris Administration has the power to end this policy and reinstitute fairness and equality in how asylum seekers are treated. Upholding our values is the right thing to do and it is up to the President to end Title 42.
The entire Medium article, “President Biden, You Have The Power To Fight Discrimination. Use It,” is here.
