SPLC DENOUNCES COURT RULING BLOCKING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FROM ENDING USE OF TITLE 42

ATLANTA – Efrén C. Olivares, Deputy Legal Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) Immigrant Justice Project, released the following statement in response to a district court in Louisiana’s ruling blocking the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ceasing the practice of expelling migrants under Title 42. As a result of this policy, first invoked by the Trump Administration and then wrongly continued by the Biden Administration, countless migrants have been expelled without due process.  
  
“This ruling is devastating for countless asylum seekers and their families who will continue to be denied their due process and sent back to face violence, harm and privation without ever having a chance to present their asylum case.  
 
“This unprecedented use of Title 42, which has cut off access to safety and protection for asylum seekers and resulted in family separations, has been decried by public health experts, including CDC scientists. The expulsions have disproportionately impacted Black immigrants and asylum-seekers, who have been expelled at higher rates than other immigrants. Title 42 is supposed to be about public health, but instead it is being used as an unlawful and racist immigration enforcement measure. 
 
“While the ruling is a setback to the Biden Administration’s promise to rebuild our asylum system, they must fight on to keep these commitments. We also will continue to fight for a fair and humane asylum process for all those who seek protection.”