On October 29th, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memorandum announcing the termination of the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program. We applaud the end of this inhumane policy, which, despite its name, fails to protect asylum seekers and, instead, has led to devastating harm to individuals who are seeking safety in the United States.
Since the MPP was enacted in January of 2019, our Program has strongly advocated for the termination of MPP. We submitted an amicus brief denouncing this illegal policy in August 2020. Our brief highlighted the troubling motives behind this policy, stating “[r]ather than improve the Nation’s asylum system, the MPP’s purpose is to sabotage it.”
While we are relieved that the Biden administration is taking steps to end MPP, we are deeply concerned by the continued use of Title 42, a little known health law, which the government has invoked to turn away immigrants from the US during the pandemic. Title 42 has led to the expulsion of thousands of asylum seekers and disproportionately impacts Black asylum seekers from African and Caribbean countries, as well as LGBTQ refugees. We call on the Biden administration to immediately end this policy and protect the rights of those seeking asylum in the US.