The New Title 42

The New Title 42

info gathered by C.A. Matthews

Editor's note: From the "Just when you hoped things would get better for ordinary people" department comes news of what the Biden Administration wants to replace Trump's infamous "Title 42" deportation program with, and yes, it's fairly horrendous. 

In my day job as an immigration advocate, I have to explain what this new "Asylum/Transit Ban" is to a group of college students in a Powerpoint presentation. Here are my notes--along with a call for action. Everyone who reads this should send in a comment by the March 27th deadline and pass the link along. Lives are at stake.

 

The Biden Asylum/Transit Ban (“The New Title 42”)

What is/was Title 42?  

Title 42 is a public health and welfare statute enacted in 1944 which gives the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the authority to determine whether a communicable disease in a foreign country poses a danger of spreading in the US. If the CDC finds that a disease does pose a threat, it can, with approval from the president, temporarily prohibit people or property from entering the country to avert danger. It was enacted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Title 42 is set to expire on May 11, 2023, when the Biden administration states it will declare the pandemic officially over within the United States.  

What’s the big controversy over Title 42? 

Title 42 has been used to prevent immigrants from entering the US and claiming asylum, even though all persons entering the country must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Throwing up policy roadblocks to prevent people from entering the country and claiming asylum goes against current US asylum law. There have been 2.5 million expulsions under Title 42. A pattern of discrimination against asylum seekers of certain nationalities, ethnicities, races, indigenous peoples, and LGBTQ+ persons has been noted. 

Expelled migrants from the US southern border have been sent to wait in the northern region of Mexico under the January 2019 MPP (Migrant Protection Protocols) or “Remain in Mexico”. Mexico will take only Department of Homeland Security expulsions of nationals of Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela. All others are either sent back to their country of origin or allowed to proceed through a “normal asylum procedure” in the US. 

(Editor's note: Notice that the more melanin in your skin, the more likely your right to claim asylum in the US will be thwarted. And where these folks are being told to wait in northern Mexico is far from safe and pleasant. Read the latest travel advisory from the US Department of State on how very dangerous that part of the world is. Many Mexican states are labeled by the US government as "Do not travel because of crime and kidnapping." This recent story about kidnapped and slain American medical tourists proves it. Photo above: US Customs and Border Patrol agent whipping a Haitian asylum seeker at the southern border last year.)

What is asylum? 

An asylum seeker meets the same legal standard as a refugee. An individual can claim asylum because of past persecution or fear of future persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. 

Congress passed the Refugee Act (1980) to bring the US into compliance with its international obligations under the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, which prohibits returning refugees to any country where their lives or freedom would be threatened. 

On a ruling on Title 42, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pointed out that the Refugee Act is very specific about the circumstances under which the government can deny asylum for failure to apply in a transit country. Under the act’s “safe third country” provision this scenario can happen only if the transit country is safe and has both a robust asylum system and a formal treaty with the United States agreeing to safe third-country status. 

Asylum seekers are supposed to be given a “credible fear interview” by a DHS officer at their port of entry to determine if their asylum claim has validity. If the officer says the claim of asylum is valid, the person can remain in the US while they await their court appearance to present their case before an immigration judge. The Biden administration’s proposed rule will narrow this procedure down to a “reasonable fear interview,” which has a much higher denial rate. If the officer denies the asylum claim, the migrant will be deported. They can appeal this denial, but most do not understand the appeal process and have no access to legal assistance. 

The importance of winning an asylum claim is that it is often the only path most immigrants can take to obtain a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR or “Green Card”) status and eventually become a US citizen. Temporary Protective Status (TPS) or similar statuses are not permanent and do not lead to LPR status or citizenship. 

What is the new “Biden Asylum/Transit Ban” going to do that’s different from Title 42? 

The Biden Administration on February 21, 2023, announced a crackdown on those seeking asylum in the US. The proposed rule would see the rapid deportation of anyone who has not first applied for asylum en route to the US southern border through the use of a smartphone app called “CBP One.” CBP One has been plagued with significant technical problems, preventing many from making “asylum appointments” (two weeks or more out) and has raised serious equity and privacy concerns. The app takes a very long time to fill out and has been known to crash, and the main text is currently available only in Spanish and Haitian Creole, with English only error messages. It cannot be accessed from a computer, and the user must first use an all-English web site, “Log-In.gov,” to set up an account and have their identity verified before accessing and applying for a an asylum appointment via CBP One. 

This proposed rule has been condemned by immigration rights groups, which claim it runs counter to the “humane immigration system” that Biden promised while campaigning for the White House. Some have called it a “hybrid of the Trump transit bans.” It clearly discriminates against those asylum seekers who are too poor to own a smartphone, have no stable internet accessibility, lack computer device skills, or are illiterate. 

The Trump Administration proposed prohibiting asylum for migrants who didn’t first apply for asylum (and been denied) in a country of transit before reaching the US southern border and entering through a port of entry. The court struck down this policy for violating the 1980 Refugee Act, which guarantees the right of all migrants who reach the US to apply for asylum. The Refugee Act expressly permits asylum seekers to access protection anywhere along the border—not just ports of entry—and it does not require appointments to be made in advance on a smartphone only app to request asylum. 

 What problems could this “New Title 42” (Biden Asylum/Transit Ban) cause? 

The proposed Biden Asylum/Transit Ban would create a new asylum restriction for adults and families who present themselves unannounced to US border officials at the southern border. If they have traveled through another country or countries on their way to the US, they would have to provide proof that they applied for asylum in one of the transit countries and been denied first. (One lawyer on a webinar noted that a denial of an asylum application in another country could be used against the person applying for asylum in the US, possibly in violation of the Fifth Amendment.) The Biden administration insists that every asylum seeker has the power to avoid the ban by sticking to what it calls “lawful pathways,” implying that it’s unlawful to seek asylum if you enter the United States between ports of entry (enter without inspection), which goes against the Refugee Act. 

The rule also creates a whole new convoluted procedure to determine whether and how the ban applies. For instance, if you fly into the US, this proposed rule will not apply to you. If you come across the border from Canada, this rule does not apply. Those who have received an advanced parole (and have a US sponsor) or come into the US under a work, student, or tourist visa will not be subject to this rule. The rule only applies to persons who have physically crossed into the United States at the southern border.

The biggest problems arise from the so-called “lawful pathways” that don’t really exist for many people. The process migrants could be shunted into instead is tantamount to a near-complete asylum ban when one considers how the process is intended to work and how it interacts with systems on the ground. And the rule doesn’t even attempt to explain these discrepancies! 

To get a feel for the absurdity of the proposed regulation, read How to Seek Asylum In the United States (Under the Biden Administration’s Proposed Asylum Transit Ban), In 12 Not-At-All-Easy Steps. https://immigrationimpact.com/2023/02/22/steps-to-seek-asylum-biden-transit-ban 

What can we do to express our concerns about this proposed asylum/transit ban rule?   

Go to https://immigrationjustice.quorum.us/campaign/44910/ or https://noasylumban.us     

Individuals can make a comment to the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Service) about the proposed regulation. Only 30 days were given for public comments to be made (as compared to the usual 60 day comment period). The comment deadline is March 27, so write your comment soon and share the link with others. 

Learn more about the Biden Asylum/Transit Ban at 

https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Biden_asylum_ban_factsheet_Feb2023_1.pdf

Last but not least editor's note: If you like to know more about what it's like to be an asylum seeker trying to navigate the complex US immigration system, watch the documentary Seeking Asylum. The filmmakers met a mother and her children fleeing a violent situation and trying to reunite with her husband who was working in the United States. More on how you can view it at its web site https://www.seekingasylumfilm.com/

Quote of the Week: 

 “We have spent the past decade pouring money into the border-security apparatus in an effort to deter asylum seekers. It hasn’t worked because we’ve spent all of that money on border security and we’ve spent almost none on actually building a functional and working humanitarian-protection system on the back end.  

And now we’ve got a two-million-case backlog, more than six hundred thousand asylum applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and three million people on ICE’s non-detained docket. This is not something that you’re going to be able to fix overnight. About the only thing the Biden Administration and Congress could do right now is just declare immigration bankruptcy and start all over again, and have amnesty, but there isn’t the political will for that right now, unfortunately.”

– Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Policy Director at the American Immigration Council

Related Articles:

CBP One Is Riddled With Flaws That Make the App Inaccessible to Many Asylum Seekers https://immigrationimpact.com/2023/02/28/cbp-one-app-flaws-asylum-seekers/ 

 

Critics Decry New Biden Rule as "Trump's Asylum Ban Under a Different Name  https://truthout.org/articles/critics-decry-new-biden-rule-as-trumps-asylum-ban-under-a-different-name/

  

How to Seek Asylum In the United States (Under the Biden Administration’s Proposed Asylum Transit Ban), In 12 Not-At-All-Easy Steps  https://immigrationimpact.com/2023/02/22/steps-to-seek-asylum-biden-transit-ban 

 

Biden Wants to End Exploitation of Migrant Children, But His New Asylum Policy Could Make It Worse https://immigrationimpact.com/2023/02/27/labor-exploitation-migrant-children-biden-asylum-policy/ 

 

White House Struggles to Explain the Fate of Title 42 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/06/public-health-emerdency-title-42-00081390

From Still Awaiting Court Dates, Migrants Suffer the Effects of ‘Band-Aid’ Fixes to Our Broken Immigration System https://immigrationimpact.com/2023/02/08/awaiting-court-dates-notice-to-appear

 

A Pennsylvania Hospital is Attempting to Deport an Undocumented Woman in a Coma https://truthout.org/articles/a-pennsylvania-hospital-is-attempting-to-deport-an-undocumented-woman-in-a-coma/

Other interesting articles I've read this week about the Ohio train derailments (there's now two of them!) and the quest for peace in the world:

Norfolk Southern Cargo Train Derailed Near Springfield (Ohio) https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2023/03/04/cargo-train-derails-springfield-clark-county-ohio/69972311007/

East Palestine, Ohio And The Oligarchy https://popularresistance.org/east-palestine-ohio-and-the-oligarchy/

Angry residents confront EPA and railroad officials at East Palestine, Ohio town hall https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/03/04/rail-m04.html

Norfolk Southern Used Sick Leave as a Bargaining Chip to Erode Safety, Union Says https://truthout.org/articles/norfolk-southern-used-sick-leave-as-bargaining-chip-to-erode-safety-union-says/

"Too Many Holes": Rail Workers Say Buttigieg Plan of Action is Not Enough https://popularresistance.org/too-many-holes-rail-workers-say-buttigieg-plan-of-action-is-not-enough/

East Palestine Residents Confront Norfolk Southern at Town Hall Meeting https://truthout.org/articles/east-palestine-residents-confront-norfolk-southern-at-town-hall-meeting/

Rail Workers Demand Immediate Action from Lawmakers to Rein in Rail Industry https://truthout.org/articles/rail-workers-demand-immediate-action-from-lawmakers-to-rein-in-rail-industry/

Exposure to Chevron's Climate Friendly Fuel May Pose Severe Risk of Cancer https://truthout.org/articles/exposure-to-chevrons-climate-friendly-fuel-may-pose-severe-risk-of-cancer/ 

The House's "Horrors of Socialism" Resolution Spurred by the Capitalist Class's Greatest Fear https://indypendent.org/2023/02/the-houses-horrors-of-socialism-resolution-spurred-by-the-capitalist-classs-greatest-fear/

China's Peace Plan for Ukraine https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/03/chinas-peace-plan-for-ukraine/

Major US Outlets Found Hersh's Nord Stream Scoop Too Hot to Handle https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/04/major-us-outlets-found-hershs-nord-stream-scoop-too-hot-to-handle/

Abnormal for West to Dodge Nord Stream Explosive Revelations https://enapp.globaltimes.cn/article/1286480

 

Why All The Hate For Haiti?

 

US Border Patrol deports Haitians like rustling cattle

Why All The Hate For Haiti?

by Coast Watcher

Act 1: Once Upon a Time...

Toussaint Louveture and the Haitian Revolution inspired millions of free and enslaved people of African descent to seek freedom and equality throughout the Atlantic world.  ~Slavery and Remembrance Organization.

Inspired by the American and French revolutions, in 1791 the enslaved population of what was then called Saint Domingue rose up in the world’s first successful slave revolt. Toussaint Louveture came to command the former slaves’ army and eventually his new nation. He proved himself to be an outstanding military leader, one who expelled the colonial powers of France, Spain, and Britain from the island in a series of brilliant campaigns. His power was such that Britain entered into negotiations with him whereby concessions were made in exchange for which the newly independent Haitians would not invade other British possessions in the Caribbean.

Louveture later allied with France because the Revolutionary government abolished slavery, while Britain would not do so until 1809. Tragically, he was betrayed and captured by France while negotiating a new treaty, eventually dying in a French prison in 1803. In spite of this, Haiti gained full independence from France the following year.

The one thing the 18th and 19th century white capitalists feared above all else was an armed slave insurrection. To have an entire island of self-emancipated slaves in the middle of one of the most lucrative economic areas in the world filled the colonial powers with utter horror. American President Thomas Jefferson worked hard to quarantine Haiti, both diplomatically and economically. Due to the development of the cotton gin, slavery was becoming a highly lucrative business in the United States. The last thing an American president wanted was the slaves at home gaining inspiration from a successful uprising. This official attitude didn’t change until the Civil War. The United States didn’t officially recognize Haiti as a nation until 1862 when the American institution of slavery began to be abolished.

The US government's interest in the island continued throughout the latter half of the 19th century. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson suggested American annexation of the island to secure a defensive and economic stake in the West Indies. From 1889 to 1891, Secretary of State James Blaine unsuccessfully sought a lease of Mole-Saint Nicolas, a city on Haiti's northern coast strategically located for a naval base. President William Howard Taft tried to be fair to the Haitians. In 1910 he granted Haiti a large loan in hopes that the country could pay off its international debt and thus lessen foreign influence. The attempt proved futile, however,  due to the sheer scale of the debt and the internal instability of the country.

Act 2: Your Money or Your Life...

As the former colonial power, France took even more extreme action. In July 1825, the French King Charles X sent a fleet of warships to Haiti. In exchange for recognizing Haiti’s independence, he demanded a payment of 150 million francs as "compensation" to French plantation owners for loss of their assets in the shape of enslaved laborers and land during the Haitian revolution. As a guide to the enormity of the sum, 150 million francs was ten times the amount paid by the United States to France for the Louisiana Purchase.

Haiti had little choice but to give in to the outrageous demand. Unable to make payment through its own economy, the Haitian government was forced to take out loans from a French bank at crippling rates of interest. Over the following 122 years, Haiti paid French former slaveholders and their descendants sums equivalent to  $20 to $30 billion by today’s values. 

Is there any wonder why Haiti’s economy failed to prosper, even for an island so rich in resources? But the greed of western capitalism didn’t stop there.

Restructuring of the Haitian national bank gave American banking interests access to lucrative areas for development both in Haiti and in the neighboring Dominican Republic. The world of international politics collided as German investments in Haiti came into collision with those of America. Unhappy as they were about Haiti's close connection to France, policymakers in the United States were more concerned about increased German activity and influence in the country.

In the beginning of the 20th century, Germany's presence in Haiti increased as German merchants began establishing trading branches in the country, quickly dominating commercial business in the area. The United States considered Germany its chief rival in the Caribbean then, and it feared German control of Haiti would give the Germans a powerful advantage in the area. Corruption and greed, as well as numerous deaths and assassinations of Haitian presidents and other officials, led to American banks—aided by US Marines—in seizing Haiti’s gold reserves in December 1914. Gold bullion to the tune of $500,000 was transported by a US Navy warship to New York.

In 1915, Haitian President Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was assassinated—the seventh in as many years—and the domestic situation in the island deteriorated rapidly. In response President Woodrow Wilson sent US Marines to Haiti supposedly to prevent anarchy, but in reality the Marines were sent there to protect American assets and to prevent German influence spreading.

The American occupation lasted until 1929 when a series of strikes and uprisings forced a gradual withdrawal of American troops. In 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor Policy" resulted in the official withdrawal of America from Haiti although the US retained economic connections.

Haiti suffered a US-backed dictatorship from 1957 to 1986. Two western-backed coup attempts were launched against progressive President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a military coup in 1991, and another in 2004. President Bill Clinton sent in more than 20,000 troops to restore Aristide to power in operation “Uphold Democracy” in 1994. When the second coup failed, the US launched yet another military intervention which lasted until 2017.

There are allegations against President Obama’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the effect that she colluded with US business interests to pressure the Haitian government into not raising the Haitian national minimum wage from 24 cents to 61 cents an hour. Documents obtained by Wikileaks implied that the US State Department helped block this pay raise. US embassy officials in Haiti clearly opposed the wage hike as well.

Act 3: No Time Like the Present…

The United States’ actions in and against Haiti for over a century is one of gross interference. Now we see yet another woeful chapter in the whole sordid tale as US Marines seize control of Toussaint Louveture Airport, and Canada lands military vehicles there, all with the active approval of the United Nations. The so-called targets of this UN operation are the gangs that have taken over large areas of the country—gangs which seem to have been primed and set going by American business interests.

How long this next go-around will last is anybody’s guess, but I doubt it’ll lead to any good. There are no "quick fixes" to centuries' old problems created by white European domination and colonialism in the Caribbean region. Rapid solutions to Haiti’s problems inserted from the outside will produce temporary results at best with no long-lasting effects. The key to resolving the Haitian issue should be placed in the hands of the Haitian people themselves.

Learn more about Haiti:
https://slaveryandremembrance.org/people/person/?id=PP052

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Toussaint-Louverture

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/10/05/1042518732/-the-greatest-heist-in-history-how-haiti-was-forced-to-pay-reparations-for-freed

https://haitiliberte.com/how-the-u-s-came-to-dominate-haiti-seizing-the-gold/

https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwi/88275.htm

Bio: Coast Watcher is our resident armchair historian and observer of the human condition. The more the West says things are changing for the worse in Haiti, the more the West seems apt to invade and pocket Haiti's wealth and resources. Maybe that was the plan all along?

Related Articles:

The Last Thing Haiti Needs is Another Military Intervention https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/20/the-last-thing-haiti-needs-is-another-military-intervention/  

Haiti Invasion is a Testing Ground for US Imperialism's Conduct in the Age of Climate Collapse  https://rainershea.substack.com/p/haiti-invasion-is-a-testing-ground

Nations Consider Sending Troops to Haiti, Despite Troubled Past Foreign Intervention  https://www.rsn.org/001/nations-consider-sending-troops-to-haiti-despite-troubled-past-foreign-intervention.html 

China Wary of International Troop Deployment in Haiti https://popularresistance.org/china-wary-of-international-troop-deployment-in-haiti/

More Foreign Intervention Won't Solve Haiti's Crises. Decolonization Will  https://truthout.org/articles/more-foreign-intervention-wont-solve-haitis-crises-decolonization-will/ 

Haiti: US Manufactures Crisis to Justify Repression of Popular Movement  https://popularresistance.org/haiti-us-manufactures-crisis-to-justify-repression-of-popular-movement/

Who is This "Haiti" That's Appealing for Intervention? https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/26/who-is-this-haiti-thats-appealing-for-intervention/

Seen on Twitter:

Haiti is a profit center for the Clinton Foundation; there's no telling what else we could find underneath that rock were we to actually look there; it’s just that the Clintons were so brazen in their corruption and theft of Haitian resources!! Just like Ukraine is for ol' Joe.

— Cynthia McKinney PhD (@cynthiamckinney) October 21, 2022

If truth is the first casualty of war, humanity is the second. It is depressing to witness how readily people—and states—embrace the cultivation of ethnic and nationalist hatreds for political advantage. Rather than hastening peace, these strategies forbid it.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 24, 2022

It’s official. The United States is invading Haiti. https://t.co/hKYqTTzUcs

— rotating villain (@ComradeDJs) October 23, 2022

Shouldn't everyone who so vocally protested Putin's invasion of Ukraine now also protest, with equal voracity, the coming US invasion of Haiti?

— vryfokkenou (@vryfokkenou) October 24, 2022

* * *

Protests have intensified across Haiti after the government of Ariel Henry, facing popular opposition to his rule, sent a request to the United Nations for international military support.

The United States, Canada, and the Organization of American States are now mobilizing towards intervention to prop up Henry's illegitimate government, which was installed after the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse by US-trained Colombian mercenaries. This is another brazen attempt to deny the Haitian people their right to self-determination.

Hands off Haiti! Add your name to the statement.

In response, the Cabinet of the Progressive International published a statement on Saturday calling for an end to foreign intervention in the country:

"The crisis in Haiti can only be repaired by following the basic demands of the Haitian people: an end to foreign meddling, an end to the brutal foreign-imposed austerity policies that sustain hunger and destitution, and support for Haiti’s full self-determination. The Haitian people have done nothing more, and nothing less, than resist an unjust colonial order built on their oppression."

Over two centuries ago, the people of Haiti defeated European colonialism, abolished slavery, and established the world’s first Black republic. In the process, they gave life to the political project of internationalism. From Ethiopia to Gran Colombia, Haiti helped the colonized, oppressed, and enslaved around the world in their struggles.

In the coming weeks, international solidarity will be critical as the Haitian people continue their long struggle for freedom. Join me in honoring that struggle, defending Haiti’s sovereignty, and supporting its people’s right to determine their own future.

Sign the statement today.

For more information about the situation, read this piece by PI Council member Vijay Prashad, which explains the context behind the protests that have swept across the country.

In solidarity,

Pawel Wargan
Progressive International Secretariat

 

Slave Patrol Immigration Policy

Slave Patrol Immigration Policy

by C.A. Matthews  

Images of white lawmen on horses whipping poor black migrants crossing a river have been thrown in  our faces repeatedly. Is it any wonder that the first thing to come to mind is, "The slave patrols never went away in the US, did they?" Welcome to 21st America! Welcome to a nation where racism is enshrined in its immigration laws in spite of a civil war that supposedly outlawed slavery and civil rights regulations that supposedly maintain the fiction of equality for all.

Is it really any surprise that the slave patrol still exists?  The history of the US Border Patrol predicted these lawmen's recent actions toward the Haitian migrants:

Since its creation in 1924, the US Border Patrol has been steeped in institutional racism and has committed violent acts with near impunity. The racial animus of US immigration policy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century formed the foundation for the agency. Federal laws banning Asian immigration were followed by the national origins quota system, which prioritized northern and western Europeans over the rest of the world. While not included in the original quotas, Mexicans, who previously could travel freely across the US-Mexico border, began to experience increasing restrictions in the 1920s.

Congress created the Border Patrol in 1924 to patrol the northern and southern borders between ports of entry. Many officers came from organizations with a history of racial violence and brutality, including the Ku Klux Klan and the Texas Rangers, carrying over the culture of a racist “brotherhood” into the new agency.  In the Border Patrol’s early days, it focused on the unlawful entry of Asian and European immigrants. However, in the 1930s enforcement began to shift to Mexican citizens entering along the southern border.

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/legacy-racism-within-us-border-patrol

Our government actions towards immigrants have become so horrendous that even government officials cannot tolerate them any longer:

“I will not be associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the dangers posed by armed gangs in control of daily life,” wrote former Haiti envoy Daniel Foote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday.

“Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.”

 US Diplomat to Haiti Resigns Citing Inhumane Deportations 

https://truthout.org/articles/us-diplomat-to-haiti-resigns-citing-inhumane-deportations/

Envoy Foote understands that all who present themselves at the border asking for asylum are legally within their rights to receive a credible fear hearing. Even federal judges have called on the Biden administration to stop pursuing the "Trump policy" of Title 42:

All people who are physically present in the United States have the right to apply for asylum, “whether or not” they come through a port of entry or cross the border without authorization. Since Title 42 went into effect at the border in March 2020, the Border Patrol has carried out over 1,100,000 expulsions, regardless of whether the person was seeking asylum or not. Yet even after a federal judge ruled last week that the Title 42 policy was illegal – at least in terms of its use against families with children – the Biden administration chose to immediately appeal that decision.

Del Rio Migrant Camp Shows How Biden Administration Isn't Living Up to Its Promises

 https://immigrationimpact.com/2021/09/21/haitian-migrant-camp-biden-promises/

Will we be seeing changes in immigration practices, policies, or laws anytime soon? One would hope these horrific images would provoke change, but it's doubtful. It's doubtful because the true forces that rule, the billionaire oligarchs, don't see the kind treatment of strangers on our borders as necessary. In fact, it suits their purposes just fine to keep a permanent underclass of workers that can be easily manipulated through the fear of deportation back to a country that is falling apart physically and politically. When that doesn't stop those brave souls that go forward with their plans to come to the US to join friends and family here, we resort to what we've always done. We strike fear into their hearts through the use of 21st century slave patrols.

And some folks wonder why I snigger at this line from the Pledge of Allegiance: With liberty and justice for all. It depends on how you define all. It obviously doesn't include Haitians...or Mexicans...or Hondurans...or Guatemalans....

 

More articles:

Haitian Rights Are Human Rights https://popularresistance.org/haitian-rights-are-migrant-rights/

Haitians Who Fled The US Border Are Now Facing Nights of Raids and Terror in Mexico  https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/haitians-us-border-night-raids-mexico 

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Biden Administration's Order to Deport Haitians as Illegal and Racist https://popularresistance.org/black-alliance-for-peace-condemns-biden-administrations-order-to-deport-haitians-as-illegal-and-racist/

How Communities Are Urging Congress to Stop Funding Cruelty Against Migrants https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/update-how-communities-are-urging-congress-to-stop-funding-cruelty-against

Biden's Border Patrol Whipping Refugees! https://youtu.be/JLRPaoyFOQc

You have questions as to why border police would assault Haitians, the story from the absence of the major white colonial powers from the day- long UN event on race is a good indicator of where the U.S. & its allies stand on white supremacy. https://t.co/xA22f83Scm

— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) September 23, 2021

***

You already know that when we say: Black lives matter, we mean ALL Black lives. Including Haitian asylum seekers at the border. 

And yet, this past week, we were reminded once again just how deeply ingrained anti-Blackness is in the institutions upon which the nation relies. 

We don’t need to show you the images that surfaced from the US-Mexico border of white Border Patrol officers on horses chasing, yelling, and whipping Haitian asylum seekers to tell you how viscerally it conjures this country's not so distant past; visions of violent slave patrols and public lynchings reimagined by modern-day henchmen.

Haitian asylum seekers who have for weeks and months been fleeing toward what they thought was safety, were terrorized, abused, and then deported. Others are being sent to Guantanamo Bay, or back to Mexico where organized crime and collaborators in Mexican security forces routinely prey on migrants - especially Haitians, who are particularly vulnerable because of their skin color. 

It’s time to put an end to anti-Black immigration practices. Seeking asylum is a legal and human right, fundamental to maintaining democracy. It must extend to Black people

sign our petition & demand biden protects black migrants today  

While on the campaign trail, Biden made promises to the Haitian community to have more fair immigration policies. And yet he may soon be responsible for carrying out the largest mass expulsion of would-be asylum-seekers in recent American history. 

Thousands of people, including families and children, will be expelled to Haiti - a country the Administration itself has described as teetering on the brink of collapse as a result of centuries of imperialism and foreign intervention intent on destabilizing the first Black republic. 

In just the past two and a half months alone, Haiti has seen its president assassinated and weathered a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake, all in the middle of a pandemic. 

It would be unconscionable to send people back to Haiti. 

Biden promised us a more humanitarian approach to immigration AND a commitment to racial justice. We demand the Administration follows through on its promises by:  

• Stopping deportations to Haiti
• Granting humanitarian parole to thousands of Black asylum seekers and processing their claims without further delay
• Conducting a thorough investigation into the acts of Border Patrol agents in Del Rio and anti-Black practices throughout the agency
• Halting the treatment we witnessed, and instead employing a humanitarian approach to immigration

add your name to our demands & affirm that all black lives matter

Make no mistake, what’s happening at the border right now is an extension of white supremacy in the United States.

Every arm of our country’s incarceration and deportation machine bears down on and disrupts Black people and communities. For decades, Black migrants have faced disproportionate rates of detention and deportation, and abuse like solitary confinement within detention centers.

The message we’re being told once in again is: Black people are unwelcome in the United States, and are subject to policing and abuse.

From police to immigration, we cannot and will not tolerate anti-Blackness. 

Immigration is a Black issue. And we must:

protect black migrants

Until Justice is Real,

Scott, Erika, Rashad, Arisha, Malachi, Megan, Ernie, Palika, Ariel, Madison, Trevor, Erick, Ana, Kristiana, McKayla and the Color Of Change team

 ***

Border agents attacked asylum seekers with whip-like cords and horses

Sign Now

One month ago, Haiti endured a horrible earthquake that roiled the island. Homes, churches, hotels, and more collapsed into rubble, leaving tens of thousands of people displaced. Officials estimate that upwards of 50,000 homes were decimated nearly overnight. In the wake of this calamity, refugees have turned to the United States as a beacon of hope in a time of sorrow. But recent video footage shows U.S. Border Patrol agents in Texas literally whipping the refugees with cords, as well as corralling the asylum seekers by lunging at them on horseback and physically grabbing at them. Sign the petition to demand justice and an end to this cruelty! These refugees came here believing the U.S. could be a place filled with benevolence and possibility. Seeking asylum is not a crime in the United States. In fact, it is a nationally and internationally protected human right, one for which the U.S. technically has a process. That process is not supposed to include heaving whips at those in need of help. On top of that, the Biden administration has recently undertaken a mass deportation operation against Haitian refugees, sending back upwards of 6,000 people already. Sign the petition to tell the U.S. government, including President Joe Biden to stop the inhumane treatment of refugees now, and to halt all deportations of asylum seekers! Thank you,   Kelsey The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. The U.S. must live up to its moral responsibility as a powerful, resourceful nation to do right by those who are in desperate straits, and at the very least, do no harm to asylum seekers. Sign the petition.

 ***

 It is hard to look at the horrific images from the southern border.

The sight of armed men on horseback — agents of the United States government — attacking Haitian migrants, camped in a small Texas border town, immediately brings to mind the horrors of chattel slavery. And for those of us of the Black Diaspora, it is a horrifying vision that reaches into our past and tells a damning truth about our present.

And even though we’re now being told that the last of the makeshift camps have cleared and the migrants are headed for Customs and Border Protections Centers, what we saw this week was yet another reminder that the humanity of Black people is always, at best, conditional.

As we demand justice for Haitian migrants, we must also reckon with the knowledge that Haiti has borne the brunt of imperialist anti-Blackness for centuries and that this is yet another in a long line of pointed cruelty that has long been leveled at Haitian immigrants.

Anti-Blackness within our country’s long history of white supremacy often excludes the voices and experiences of Black immigrants from mainstream conversations about immigration and immigrant rights.

And the horrifying scenes from the border have been anti-Blackness in action.

At NDWA, we see this anti-Blackness every day: the systematic devaluation of domestic work is so deeply rooted in race and gender discrimination against Black women from across the Diaspora that has survived through laws, attitudes, and culture since slavery.

This is why We Dream in Black (WeDiB), NDWA and our Black Caucus, comprised of Black staffers, stand in solidarity with Haiti and Haitian refugees in every way possible and will continue our work to dismantle the centuries of institutionalized anti-Black racism that led to this most recent horror.

NDWA and our Families Belong Together (FBT) campaign will remain vocal in calling out the Biden administration for exacerbating this crisis with cruel Trump-era immigration policies, and we will continue to do all we can to center Black needs, voices, and leadership in our work.

If you’re looking for ways to assist those working on the ground during this unspeakable crisis, we’ve pulled together ways you can offer support.

• Add your name to the FBT action expressing your outrage at the situation and demand that migrants be treated with dignity and respect and that all deportations to Haiti are halted immediately.
• Share the Haitian Bridge Alliance’s donation link and/or donate if you are able.
• Post on social media about your outrage regarding the treatment of Haitians. Here is a digital toolkit with graphics and suggested posts.
• Sign up to volunteer with Houston Haitians United.

In solidarity,

We Dream in Black
The Black Caucus of the National Domestic Workers Alliance