Vanessa Cárdenas, Deputy Director of America’s Voice: “We can manage migration effectively, protect refugees who need protection, and govern our border with both order and justice”
Washington, DC – The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Deputy Director of America’s Voice, reacting to the Biden administration’s announcement that they will phase out the use of Title 42 at the end of May:
With its decision to end Title 42, the Biden administration is finally following the science and the law and the values President Biden ran on. The nation is returning to a more normal way of living, with COVID-19 becoming less of a threat and vaccines and therapeutics becoming more widespread. Moreover, applying for refugee status at our borders and ports of entry is a legal right enshrined in U.S. and international law. It’s time to get on with the work of building a fair and functional immigration and asylum system, as part of an intelligent regional strategy to deal with forced migration in our hemisphere.
The use and abuse of Title 42 was the brainchild of Stephen Miller, who was Trump’s general in their four-year war on immigrants and refugees. They did everything they could to destroy and dismantle the infrastructure of the asylum, refugee and immigration systems. They went even further, slashing aid designed to address root causes, ending legal channels from the region for unaccompanied minors, refugees and workers, bullying rather than cooperating with our regional allies. America can and must do better.
Of course Republicans continue using this issue as political football and are attacking the news of the upcoming end of Title 42. No one should be surprised. They started blaming Biden’s policies on rising border numbers while Donald Trump was still President. All Republicans have to offer are political attacks, ‘open borders’ falsehoods, and the same cruel and chaotic policies that Trump and Stephen Miller advanced. Smugglers are already seizing on the GOP talking points to market their illicit services to people seeking safety and a better life, no matter the risk or the unlikeliness of success.
But as Republicans play politics and run on xenophobia, the Biden administration and Democrats are working to address tough challenges that respect the law and America’s best traditions as a welcoming nation. The President has a plan and is putting it in place to tackle migration and a restoration of asylum.
Reforming our immigration system is not easy. And Republican obstructionism has thwarted the strong public support for action. But we can manage migration effectively, protect refugees who need protection, and govern our border with both order and justice.
