Trump era policy of mass deportations at border not lifted, used as bargaining chip
by Kerul Dyer
The humanitarian disaster at the US and Mexico border will not be alleviated anytime soon for migrants, if conditions continue to deteriorate with heightened militarization and a lack of resources for those seeking asylum in the United States. Migrants now face fresh razor wire and heavily armed Texas National Guard troops just outside of El Paso, where families are enduring freezing temperatures in their wait for the Title 42 mass deportation policy to be lifted so they may have due process under US law.
Human Rights First issued a report in early December pointing out the “public health farce of Title 42” and “to block people from seeking asylum at official ports of entry, expel to grave dangers asylum seekers and migrants who cross the border, and evade the due process and refugee protection provisions of U.S. immigration and asylum law.”
The group reports that the as of the date the report was issued, the group “tracked over 13,480 reports of murder, torture, kidnapping, rape, and other violent attacks on migrants and asylum seekers blocked in or expelled to Mexico under Title 42 since President Biden took office.”
No luck for asylum seekers again today, because the Senate just passed the $1.7 Trillion the omnibus budget, and before the roll could be called, Arizona Senator Sinema made a compromise with Republican Senators to include an amendment further delaying the lifting of Title 42. This comes after several key legal decisions, including a ruling that determined the policy that ostensibly claims to protect public health and prevent a coronavirus outbreak, illegal.
The Emergency Application to appeal the lifting of Title 42 was filed on behalf of 19 Republican-led states has now been challenged by attorneys from the Biden Administration, who cite the mass expulsion policy as moot after the Center for Disease and Prevention made a determination last spring that Title 42 was no longer needed to reduce coronavirus outbreaks. And, while the Biden administration claims that it does support lifting the mass deportation policy, it also requested a delay in lifting Title 42 until after the Christmas holiday.
On Monday, Chief Justice Roberts agreed to take an administrative “pause” and delay the December 21 court order to lift Title 42 issued last month, citing a need for the full Supreme Court to have a chance to review and respond to the Emergency Application submitted on behalf of 19 Republican led states that want to see the policy enforced indefinitely.
Today’s event codifies Republican efforts to maintain the Trump era policy in an effort to deny asylum to thousands of migrants fleeing political and social violence. It also continues to create risk for the thousands of people in Mexican border towns that have become vulnerable to kidnapping, human trafficking, and other rising crimes outlined in a recent ACLU report.
Today’s inaction to lift the ban comes after Texas Governor Greg Abbot ordered more than 400 Texas National Guard troops to deploy with Humvees and razorwire at the border near El Paso, normally a welcoming town priding itself on its immigration history. The deployment is a part of the infamous Project Lone Star that has placed National Guard troops US/Mexico border regions. This most recent military presence came just hours after the Mayor of El Paso Mayor declared his city in a State of Emergency because of the number of people sleeping on the streets of his city. The Emergency declaration allows the mayor to access Texas state funds for shelter and food to the thousands of migrants camped out on the streets of the city in freezing temperatures.
