Forward Latino, a non-partisan, non-profit service, and advocacy organization applauds yesterday’s decision by District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, DC that found the use of Title 42, a public health rule used to deny immigrants an opportunity to lawfully apply for asylum, was “arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Darryl Morin, Forward Latino National President issued the following statement: “Sadly Title 42, a public health rule, was implemented by the previous administration in opposition to many of the public health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The rule was invoked not to halt the introduction of a foreign-born illness to our country, but sadly, to halt the legal entry of the foreign born who had credible claims to asylum. Against our wishes, this policy has been kept in place by the current administration.
During our visit to the Texas-Mexico Border earlier this summer, we toured the endless miles of border wall and fencing, and met U.S. Customs and Border Protection, border town representatives, faith and non-profit leaders, and with immigrants being processed in the United States as well as those waiting in the stifling heat, short of food and water, in the numerous immigrant camps along the border. What we witnessed was a humanitarian crisis.
At that time there was almost universal agreement that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had yet to commit and implement the necessary resources that would be needed to facilitate the processing of the large backlog of asylum seekers, many who have been waiting for years in these camps for an opportunity to apply. This is in addition to the newly arrived immigrants who are primarily fleeing the brutality in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, in addition to the failed dictatorships in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Forward Latino calls on this U.S. Congress to finally address the issue of our failed and broken immigration laws that often are in direct contradiction to each other, and pass immigration reform that provides for our nation’s security and economy, while allowing the U.S. to continue to be the champion of human rights and the human spirit.”
