Title 42, the xenophobic Trump-era migrant policy, is dead (again)
MSNBCNov 17, 2022
According to a report published in Reuters on Wednesday, nine migrants who crossed the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas this week claimed that there were multiple kidnappings across several days in Mexico's Durango state. If true, this could comprise one of the biggest recent mass kidnappings in the country.
The allegations follow accounts of a mass kidnapping on Dec. 3, when men in police uniforms allegedly stopped migrants' buses and conducted around a thousand people to a house where they were held against their will for six days. They were later rescued by Mexico's military.
Since the US has dispensed with most COVID protocols, there’s no public health excuse to continue Title 42, which has always been a xenophobic policy disguised as a COVID measure. It’s inhumane to continue to turn away these migrants, many of whom have legitimate asylum claims, under this guise. Lawmakers should work to fix the immigration system, but Title 42 must go.
It is clear that a legislative solution is the only way to resolve this problem, but negotiations will take time. As the US is facing an unprecedented migrant crisis at its southern border, even moderate Democrats know that the Biden admin. must extend the pandemic-era Title 42 emergency order to prevent the situation from intensifying and prevent the border from descending into chaos.