January 12th, 2010: Haiti Suffers Devastating Earthquake, Leaving Over 200,000 Dead.
July 7th, 2021: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse Assassinated.
August 14th, 2021: 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes, Leaving Over 2,200 Dead.
August 17th, 2021: Tropical Hurricane Grace Pummels Towns and Villages.
As an epicenter for natural disasters, political and economic instability, poverty, and corruption, Haitians are left with no choice but to withdraw from their country and seek opportunities elsewhere. However, their dangerous trek to their sanctuary, the United States, can take years to complete. The journey usually starts in South America, where many Haitians have previously migrated in search of sustainable livelihoods. As a result of the economic downturn with the pandemic, many Haitian families residing in South America have been forced to flee North towards the United States, where a promised, better life awaits.
The migrants travel ten days by foot through the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, which is riddled with dangerous animals, drug traffickers, and bandits. You see mothers balancing babies in their arms and children drowning under the weight of their backpacks as they try to forge a rushing river (Otis). Haitian migrants leave everything behind and put their lives and the lives of their families at risk for the chance of a better opportunity. And unfortunately, a vast majority of them do not make it because of either the treacherous circumstances or their capture and deportation for traveling illegally through several Central American countries. But for those who make it, the years of pain, hunger, and endurance are worth it once they’re at the U.S. border, the gate to their safe haven, right?
Wrong. Instead of welcoming them with open arms and offering asylum, you can see “US border patrol agents on horseback attacking asylum seekers, including [children]” (Oseguera). These Haitian refugees are rounded up and expelled right back to Mexico or worse, Haiti, despite the immediate danger it poses to them. Without a chance to plead their case. Without a chance to apply for asylum.
How is this inhumane behavior and violation of the law even allowed? The answer is Title 42. Title 42 is a “clause in the 1944 Public Health Services Law that ‘allows the government to prevent the introduction of individuals during certain public health emergencies'” (Garcia et al.). Trump’s administration reinterpreted Title 42 after COVID in order to target migrants and rapidly expel them from entering the country, without allowing them to apply as refugees. Although Biden’s administration rescinded some of Trump’s inhumane policies such as the zero-tolerance policy which relentlessly separated immigrant children from their parents, Title 42 remains intact as it’s concealed as a health precaution regarding coronavirus. While some argue that Title 42 is an effective safety measure that intends to protect those within the United States from the current global pandemic involving COVID-19, I argue that instead, Title 42 is a thinly veiled attempt for the government to seize power and act on the preexisting stigma against immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean. Since Title 42 lacks a scientific basis and violates international immigration law, the logical solution would be to rescind this policy, and this can be achieved by pressuring the Biden administration to comply with refugee law.
At the broadest level, this isn’t the only instance of immigrants being blamed for spreading disease. By looking at this issue through a global lens, we can see that many other countries are participating in this anti-immigrant sentiment; negative stereotypes towards immigrants are painting them as scapegoats for this global pandemic. To illustrate with an example, according to Doctors Without Borders head Dirk van der Tak, authorities in Malaysia “have used COVID-19 as a pretext to target immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and the Rohingya community” (Cole). People in Malaysia are capitalizing on the current state of global crisis in order to act on pre-existing stereotypes against immigrants. The global pandemic is being maneuvered to justify action against the influx of immigrants and hate towards foreigners, and the issue in the US involving Title 42 is no different. It can be seen that hate towards immigrants is not bound solely to the US, but is instead a global problem that needs to be addressed. Even in Vancouver, a city “widely seen as welcoming of newcomers,” you can see a 717% increase in violence towards Asians as a result of stereotypes claiming that COVID-19 is a Chinese-made and Chinese-spread disease (Baylon). The world continues to pinpoint the blame on marginalized groups, refugees, and asylum seekers who are simply asking for another chance at survival; not only is this logic backward, but it prevents us from working towards probable solutions when we continue to scapegoat. Why then, are we so quick to attack those who we deem different from us, and how did this stigma regarding newcomers and disease originate?
This ideology of excluding immigrant aliens and pitting them as a threat to society and public health is deeply rooted in how we’ve perceived foreigners in the past. As it is with any catastrophic event, whether it be an epidemic, natural disaster, or economic downturn, people naturally look for a group to blame; they look for populations to lash out on and take action against. Unfortunately, immigrants are particularly prone to be made scapegoats because they’re already viewed as aliens, outsiders, and even inferior. As history has shown, especially in the United States, negative attitudes towards immigrants tie them in with the spread of disease. For instance, in 1876 during a smallpox epidemic in San Francisco, the city health officer blamed the “unscrupulous, lying, and treacherous Chinamen who have disregarded our sanitary laws” (Zimmerman). In turn, these racist and xenophobic remarks towards Chinese-Americans contributed to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which restricted Chinese immigration. Similarly, in the early 20th century, Jews were targeted for being vectors of disease; sociologist E.A. Ross stated, “Not only are they undersized and weak, but they shun bodily activity and are exceedingly sensitive to pain” (Zimmerman). As evidenced, these attacks were not formed on any scientific or statistical basis, but instead on an ugly prejudice against immigrant communities. In fact, a peer-reviewed publication in the medical journal The Lancet, notes “there is no systematic association between migration and importation of infectious diseases” (The Lancet). It’s clear how the persecution of these populations is masked by the idea of upholding public health to justify the hostile and unfair treatment towards immigrants. It’s these ingrained, negative stereotypes (associating foreigners as vectors for disease) that allow for policies like Title 42 to come into effect. I argue that what happened 140 years ago with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act or targeting of Jews during the 1900s is no different than what is occurring today. The recent pandemic is being used to act on the historic and negative stereotypes against immigrants as the government continues to seize power and expel asylum seekers at an alarming rate, without due process. Title 42 permits this injustice, and it too lacks evidence to suggest it upholds public health.
There is little statistical evidence to suggest that immigrants are responsible for the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 within the United States and other developed countries, rendering CDC’s imposition of Title 42 baseless. The current interpretation of Title 42 lies under the assumption that immigrants from countries where COVID-19 is present are carrying this virus into our country and infecting our citizens. Therefore, many believe that Title 42 is simply a protection measure that closes our borders to all asylum seekers in order to mitigate the risk they pose in bringing disease within U.S. borders. However, there are many credible epidemiologists who disagree with this notion and claim that Title 42 is not backed by science. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “Focusing on immigrants, expelling them… is not the solution to an outbreak” (Fauci). Many other health officials are in accordance with Fauci’s claim, with former CDC official Anne Schuchat conceding that there was “little public health rationale for Title 42” (Beitsch). In other words, Title 42 was initiated for reasons that don’t involve quarantine and protection from immigrants carrying infectious diseases. The public health crisis is being used to justify the cruel and unfair exploitation of Latin American and Caribbean immigrants through Title 42 as it’s masked as being necessary in order to control the spread of COVID-19. I agree with both Fauci and Schuchat as Title 42 pits immigrants as the scapegoat for the uncontrolled cases of coronavirus within the United States, when we still have a large percentage of the population refusing to get vaccinated, wear masks, and social distance. It’s unreasonable to push away refugees for the sake of public safety when we should be focusing on these factors that are actually responsible for the outbreak. Not to mention, expelling potential asylum seekers endangers their lives and can be viewed as a violation of international refugee law.
Sending immigrants back to where they came from can put them in danger, especially if the reason they left in the first place was to escape torture and persecution. There are terms used to distinguish these immigrants who are specifically fleeing persecution in their homes: “refugees” and “asylum seekers.” Cartel violence, poverty, and political instability, and corruption in Haiti, Mexico, and other Latin American coins a large portion of these immigrants from the South as refugees. Human traffickers and bandits camp along the US-Mexico border in order to prey on any vulnerable travelers, but this doesn’t stop Title 42 from plopping immigrants back into their hands. The international human rights organization, Human Rights First, has tracked at least “7,647 kidnappings or other attacks on people blocked or expelled under Title 42” since the beginning of this 2021 (Human Rights First). The fact that we’re turning our backs away from these people in need and letting them defend themselves against these attacks is unacceptable. The Biden administration cannot continue to allow this outrageous injustice through Title 42, and action needs to be taken not only because it’s purely inhumane but also violates federal and international law.
If a Haitian family is escaping poverty and cartel violence in their home country by seeking asylum in the United States, how does it make sense to send them right back to Haiti and leave them to fend for themselves? It doesn’t, and the international Refugee Convention in 1951 recognized this. That’s why countries including the United States are legally obligated by international law to grant asylum to those who qualify as refugees. The process of determining who qualifies as a refugee consists of individualized hearings and an application, yet under Title 42, immigrants are being expelled before they can even be screened by border patrol (Ramji-Nogales). This means that we’re sending people who would qualify as refugees right back into the hands of persecutors, traffickers, and other violent circumstances that put their lives at risk. Article 33, also known as the non-refoulment provision, was administered through the Refugee Act of 1980, and it explicitly prohibits countries from expelling “a refugee to a country where she faces a threat to life or freedom” (Ramji-Nogales). Therefore, the expulsions taking place as a result of Title 42 are in violation of Article 33 of the Refugee Convention and do not abide by international refugee law. There is mounting evidence against the use of Title 42, both ethical and legal, and so we must hold the Biden administration accountable to rescind this order immediately.
This can be done by pressuring the Biden administration as they have the power to end this policy. United Nations are even calling out Title 42, for example…
Now I do concede that with new strains of coronavirus arising, such as omicron, it is especially important that we take the necessary precautions, and constrict the flow of people through our borders more than we usually would. This is necessary in order to control the spread of this infectious virus and protect the lives of people living in the United States. However, I emphasize that this DOES NOT mean we close our borders to all immigrants and asylum seekers. This does provide a solution to this problem, and there are many alternative steps we can take to ensure the safety of everyone while still protecting the lives of refugees, the same way many other countries are doing.
Conclusion: shift attitudes away from stereotypes and stigma etc, immigrants offer many benefits, and it's especially important from a humanitarian perspective to help those in need. these injustices cannot be tolerated any longer etc.
