Court Ruling Shows Title 42 Had Nothing to do With Public Health
(Washington)—The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) welcomed a federal court’s decision striking down Title 42 and we urge the Biden Administration to work quickly to process asylum seekers who had been expelled due to this racist policy. The ruling is clear that Title 42 had nothing to do with public health but was instead another hateful tactic deployed by the previous administration to keep migrants from exercising their right to seek asylum. All other policies implemented in the spirit of Title 42, especially Texas’s Operation Lone Star, should immediately cease operations.
Title 42 was a violation of longstanding immigration law that requires asylum seekers receive a full and fair proceeding to determine their right to protection in the U.S. Title 42 heaped immense cruelty and hardship on nearly 2 million migrants who were denied entry.
“We hope this ruling prompts the administration to stop succumbing to pressure from those who continue to push false and harmful misinformation of what is happening at the border,” said ILRC Policy Attorney and Strategist Elizabeth Taufa. “This ruling is a huge opportunity for the Biden Administration to put in place humane, compassionate and lawful policies that are proactive and creative and ensure states are not able to advance to anti-immigrant agendas, such as in Texas with Operation Lone Star.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott implemented Operation Lone Star in March 2021 in what he claimed was a need to beef up security along the southern border. The Texas Legislature has dedicated nearly $2 billion to this scheme that has caused serious harm to border communities by increasing racially motivated policing and enforcement practices. On Tuesday, Gov. Abbott escalated his dangerous attacks on immigrant communities by invoking the invasion clauses of not just the Texas state constitution, but the U.S. Constitution.
“As the Biden Administration remains silent and complicit with Operation Lone Star, Gov. Abbott is clearly taking increasingly violent and extremist actions,” Taufa said. “It’s time to end all hateful anti-immigrant policies at the local, state and federal levels.”
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The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC works to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. Follow us at www.ilrc.org, and on Twitter and Instagram @the_ILRC