Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, joined other Democratic legislators in asking Mr. Biden not to continue with the expulsion policy. This policy has allowed U.S. border agents in two years to expel more than 1.6 million migrants. The policy, also known as Title 42 was called an illegal program that has “disastrous consequences” for asylum-seekers.
“Now, more that a year after the Biden administration assumed office, it’s unacceptable for this policy to continue indiscriminately in order to remove migrants with valid asylum claims from our Southern border,” Schumer, a New York Democrat told reporters during a conference call hosted by advocates of migrants.
Title 42 allows migrants to be quickly expelled to Mexico and their country of origin, without the possibility to apply for U.S. protection. The Biden administration supports the same policy as Trump’s. It argues that the policy is necessary to reduce the risk of coronavirus epidemics in border detention centers.
Schumer used Thursday’s story of Sofiia (a Ukrainian mother) to support his argument. She was turned back on Wednesday at the U.S. south border. He said, “This isn’t who we are.”
According to Blaine Bookey, the lawyer for the family, Sofiia and her children, aged 14, 12 and 6, fled Ukraine after Russian forces attacked late in December. They then fled to Moldova and then Romania. The family flew to Mexico to try to obtain U.S. asylum at San Diego’s port of entry to Tijuana.
The family wanted to reunite with California relatives. Bookey, who was with the family on Wednesday during one of the failed attempts, stated that they were repeatedly turned away by U.S. authorities at the port-of-entry multiple times.
“I spoke to the CBP supervisor who said that Title 42 was in place and that there are no exceptions. She will not be allowed in unless someone tells her otherwise,” Bookey, an attorney at the California-based Center for Gender and Refugee Studies told CBS News.
Sofiia, her children and their lawyer had to go back to Tijuana to meet their family on Wednesday night. Bookey stated that Sofiia was allowed to enter the U.S. after her lawyers made public their family’s situation and urged administration officials to grant asylum to the family.
Bookey stated that the U.S. treated the family in a way that was not consistent with the Biden administration’s support for more than 23,000 people fleeing conflict in Ukraine.
“How is it possible for the administration to express support for Ukrainians, provide protections to Ukrainians, but at the same, keep in place a policy that violates our laws, has no basis in public healthcare, puts people in dangerous situations, and has no basis in public safety?” Bookey was asked.
Bookey stated that Sofiia was and her children were fortunate, noting that many migrants she met in Tijuana (including a Haitian mother with three kids) have been prevented from applying for U.S. refugee status.
In addition to growing Democratic criticism, Title 42’s continuation by the Biden administration has been complicated last week by two court rulings that could cause the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) to change or scrap the public health order authorizing expulsions.
An appeals court in Washington, D.C., prohibited U.S. officials from exiling families with children to countries that could persecute or torture them. A federal judge in Texas declared that the administration cannot continue exempting unaccompanied kids from expulsions.
Although the first ruling will not be binding for at least a month, the second is expected to take effect Friday. This could make it more difficult for the Trump administration to reintroduce the Trump-era policy of exiling unaccompanied minors.
The Justice Department has not yet appealed either ruling or requested their suspension. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security (which oversees border agents) did not elaborate on how they would comply with the rulings, or how they would respond to Democratic criticisms of Title 42.
Representatives of the CDC were not available to respond to a request to comment. The CDC is expected to make a decision on Title 42 by April 1.
According to Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the Democratic Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Title 42 should be repealed and federal courts should stop defending it. Menendez asked the CDC to provide a briefing about Title 42. However, the agency has not yet scheduled one, a spokesperson told CBS News.
He said that “Expelling children does not reflect who we are as nations” during the call with Schumer.
Although they have criticised other pandemic restrictions in the past, Republican lawmakers strongly supported Title 42 and would likely be critical of the Biden administration for ending it. They have also accused the administration not using Title 42 as broadly as they should, and criticized the release of certain migrants who were allowed to remain in the U.S.
Menendez stated that Title 42’s cancellation would coincide with the relaxation of other pandemic restrictions such as mask mandates. Menendez said that officials might have had some “space” in the administration to enforce Title 42 because of the absence of vaccines or other pandemic conditions. He said that “that space” is now closed.
Menendez stated that the pandemic was caused by the administration’s actions. “This also means Title 42 should be in another phase, one that ends,” Menendez said.
