Washington, D.C. — In preparation for the expected increase of people arriving at the southwest border after the Title 42 order is scheduled to end on May 11, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a series of plans that include buttressing several humanitarian processes coupled with asylum access restrictions at the border. In response, Patrick Gaspard, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
As the nation approaches the long overdue end of the cruel and ineffective Title 42 policy, CAP welcomes the State Department stepping up to the plate to join the Department of Homeland Security to increase access to legal immigration pathways.
The Biden administration should adopt measures toward more orderly and humane border management, including: vastly expanding access to protection at U.S. ports of entry; ramping up the shockingly low rate of refugee admissions; retaining a meaningful ability to seek asylum at the border; increasing support for communities receiving immigrants; resourcing the asylum system; and creating an effective, federally organized transportation strategy so immigrants can reach their final destinations without falling prey to dehumanizing political stunts.
Deterrence is not border security, and punitive measures targeting asylum seekers place people who need protection in harm’s way and do not work to address the root causes of displacement.
We need more legal pathways, not fewer. Our nation and our economy depend on it.
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