Immigrant ARC Condemns the Biden Administration's Continued Use of Title 42

New York, NY; January 9, 2023 - Immigrant ARC condemns the Biden administration’s decision last week to expand the use of expedited removal under Title 42 and Title 8 and limit the number of admitted parolees from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua to 30,000 people, regardless if more individuals meet the eligibility requirements. 

We also stand against the Biden administration’s announcement of a forthcoming proposed rule that would establish a “rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility” for those who have traveled through a third country or were not admitted to the United States. Asylum is a right established by both U.S. federal law and international law, yet in this country, we do not guarantee a right to counsel in immigration proceedings. To expect asylum seekers to be able to overcome a presumption of ineligibility is to create a cruel, and for many, insurmountable barrier to asylum that has nothing to do with the merits of any individual asylum seekers case.    

Last week’s announcement offers a policy solution that can only make sense in political offices. It does nothing to address the human suffering being caused by our long-broken immigration system, and effectively prevents people from exercising their legal right to apply for asylum.

Immigrant ARC Executive Director Camille Mackler says, “We strongly condemn the decision to create more barriers to asylum through the regulatory process. Throughout the world over, we see global leaders shirk their responsibility while developing economies absorb the vast majority of displaced persons. The United States must show leadership and do better. Our country’s founding principles are based on hundreds of years of welcoming not the rich and the educated, but those coming here seeking freedom and opportunity. Now is not the time to turn our back on these bedrock values.”

We at I-ARC believe a meaningful response would involve a whole of government approach that is informed by local communities, including those at the border who have been bearing the brunt of these broken policies as well as those in cities in the interior.

New York has shown that it wants to help welcome, but we need more resources. Providers are at capacity and cannot continue to absorb new needs without additional support. The Federal Government must stop avoiding playing a leadership role and work with local governments and local stakeholders to help us meet these needs.

“We urge our leaders to show political courage and re-think what an appropriate border response should be,” says Mackler.  “This includes re-structuring the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that the response at the border is led by an agency trained to response to humanitarian needs, and we call on Congress to invest resources not in deterrence-first policies, the trademark of the last few decades that have led us to the moment we are in, but to welcome and help individuals coming to the United States avail themselves of existing processes meant to comply with international and domestic law, while re-thinking what a better immigration system could look like.” 

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Immigrant ARC is a collaborative of over 80 organizations and professional associations providing legal services to New York’s immigrant communities throughout the State. Born out of the legal effort at JFK Airport during the Muslim Travel Ban in 2017, our mission is clear: to mobilize New York State’s legal service providers by facilitating communication and information sharing to better support our immigrant communities; to organize and respond to issues as they arise by coordinating resources and fostering best practices among providers; and to resist and challenge anti-immigrant policies by shining a light on injustices and confronting inequalities faced by our communities in the legal system.

CONTACT: press@immigrantarc.org.