Protection from the Pandemic or a Weapon Against Immigrants: Title 42
- January 12th, 2010: Haiti Suffers Devastating Earthquake, Leaving 200,000 Dead
- July 7th, 2021: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse Assassinated
- August 14th, 2021: 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes, Leaving 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, the dangerous trek to their sanctuary, the United States, can take years to complete. Along the journey North, 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). There are travelers suffering from hunger and exhaustion, enduring hardship after hardship. 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 don’t 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, a public health policy being used to rapidly expel immigrants from the United States. While some argue in favor of Title 42, believing it’s an effective safety measure that intends to protect those within the United States from the current global pandemic involving COVID-19, others like myself disagree, claiming that in actuality, the policy is founded on widespread stereotypes linking immigrants to disease. In my paper, with an emphasis on a global perspective, I will argue that Title 42 should be rescinded because it violates international refugee law and lacks a scientific basis to suggest it is necessary. This solution will be achieved by pressuring the Biden administration and advocating for this change.
What exactly 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.). In March 2020, the Trump administration issued a reinterpretation of this public health policy, allowing it to be used for the rapid expulsion of asylum seekers from entering the United States. This was in response to growing COVID-19 concerns, and the rationale for this order was that it would control the spread of the disease throughout the country. Immediately, Title 42 expulsions received backlash from the public and were viewed as an attack against immigrant populations; many advocates of refugee rights fought to end this thinly veiled policy, and hoped justice would finally be served when power transitioned from the hands of Trump to President Biden. However, 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. Therefore, Title 42 finds a foothold in the US because of the widespread stigma surrounding immigrants as vectors for disease.
By looking at this through a global lens, we can see a pattern with countries pinning immigrants as a cause for the global pandemic. The United States is not the only nation that is dealing with asylum seekers in this manner in response to coronavirus. Many other countries in Asia and South America have initiated political action with a negative focus on immigrants as well. 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). Government officials in Malaysia have identified immigrants as a threat to public health and are taking actions that hold them responsible for the damage inflicted by COVID-19. This same principle is paralleled here in the US, as Title 42 revolves around the notion of blaming immigrants as a partial cause of the spread of the disease. It’s clear that hate towards immigrants is not bound solely to the US, but is instead a global problem that needs to be addressed. Even in Chile, there is a public movement to strengthen the borders and “prevent ‘illegal’ immigration from bringing the infection with the virus into our country”(Freier and Espinoza). The world continues to pinpoint the blame on marginalized groups, refugees, and asylum seekers who are simply asking for another chance at survival. It is evidenced, then, how policies like Title 42 are surfacing in the first place, and how the instance in the United States is just an example of what is occurring on the global stage. It’s clear that Title 42 is founded on widespread negative stereotypes that associate immigrants with a disease, but a larger question lies in where this stigma originated.
Title 42 is an extension of how we’ve perceived foreigners in the past, rooted in an ideology of pitting immigrants as a threat to public health. As it is with any catastrophic event, whether it be an epidemic, natural disaster, or economic downturn, people have historically looked for a group to blame; found 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). 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. However, that is not to say we haven’t recognized these shortcomings in the past and developed certain rules that protect refugees from this subjection.
There exist certain, international laws that intend to uphold the rights of asylum seekers, and Title 42 has violated these laws in how it conducts itself. 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-refoulement 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. Under a global angle, Title 42 is blatantly illegal, which is why it needs to be removed. The fact that we’re turning our backs away from these people in need and letting them defend themselves against these attacks is unacceptable. There is mounting evidence against the use of Title 42, both ethical and legal, and so we must rescind it immediately.
Now, here some may object that Title 42 is still necessary because it still offers a means of health safety, but there is little statistical evidence to suggest that immigrants are responsible for the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 within the United States, 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 agreement 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. Fauci and Schuchat delineate the notion that attention is being directed towards immigrants through policies like Title 42 when it is not the root of the problem. 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.
Now that I have established my case against Title 42, I would like to suggest the necessary actions that will instigate the removal of this order. Currently, the Biden administration is responsible for upholding and defending the use of Title 42, so they are the primary concern if we want to rescind the policy. Therefore, we must pressure the Biden administration with our voices that Title 42 is unethical, illegal, and unnecessary, and must be removed immediately. There are already many organizations that exist that help facilitate this process by making it easy to send Biden an email voicing this issue, such as Physicians for Human Rights. https://secure.phr.org/secure/repeal-title-42 However, even participating in public protests and staying educating others on the topic helps work towards the solution. We cannot let the Biden administration continue to allow this outrageous injustice through Title 42.
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 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. Therefore, from my proposed solution of letting the Biden administration hear the legal and ethical reasons against Title 42 and our upset voices, change can finally take place. It is crucial that we recognize how history is repeating itself with the instance of Title 42, and work to fix the injustices that have already been served to many Haitian, Mexican, Chinese, Jewish… all immigrants who are simply looking for a better life.
Works Cited
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Beitsch, Rebecca. “Trump CDC Official: No ‘Public Health Reason’ for Border Closure, Title 42.” TheHill, The Hill, 13 Nov. 2021, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/581323-trump-cdc-official-no-public-health-reason-for-border-closure-title-42.
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Monette Zard, Michele Heisler. “The CDC’s Title 42 Order Fuels Racism and Undermines Public Health.” TheHill, The Hill, 16 Oct. 2021, https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/576956-the-cdcs-title-42-order-fuels-racism-and-undermines-public-health.
Oseguera, Xochitl. “Biden Is Treating Migrants Little Better than Trump Did. That’s Shameful | Xochitl Oseguera.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 Sept. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/28/biden-immigration-deportations-haiti-texas.
Otis, John. “For Many Haitian Migrants, Reaching the U.S. Border Took Years of Travel.” YPR, 1 Oct. 2021, https://www.ypradio.org/2021-10-01/for-many-haitian-migrants-reaching-the-u-s-border-took-years-of-travel.
Ramji-Nogales, Jaya. “How an Internal State Department Memo Exposes ‘Title 42’ Expulsions of Refugees as Violations of Law.” Just Security, 7 Oct. 2021, https://www.justsecurity.org/78476/how-an-internal-state-department-memo-exposes-title-42-expulsions-of-refugees-as-violations-of-law/.
Zimmerman, Jonathan. “Perspective | the GOP Is Reviving the Old History of Blaming Outsiders for Disease.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Aug. 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/08/15/gop-is-reviving-old-history-blaming-outsiders-disease/.
