Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
By: Maribel Hastings and David Torres Posted Mar 21, 2023, 19:29 pm EDT
The countdown has already begun for the end of Title 42 on May 11, an occasion that generates fears in the Democratic administration due to the anticipated increase in migrants who present themselves at the southern border to request asylum. Meanwhile, the Republican counterpart is rubbing their hands at the prospect of politically exploiting the images to reinforce their discourse that the border area is “chaos” and that the “fault” lies with President Joe Biden and the Democrats.
The above is a grotesque panorama in which the political game prevails, rather than attention to a humanitarian problem, in which thousands of migrants have been losing everything, physically and psychologically stranded, in a geographical region so far from their places of origin and to which it will be difficult for them to return of their own free will. The idea, in any case, is to advance until the objective is achieved, regardless of the obstacles in the US political arena.
That is, if they were really concerned about the “crisis” at the border, one would expect the Republicans to legislate to allocate the funds that are required to handle the thousands of daily asylum claims that are expected now that Title 42 is eliminated, considering They control the majority in the House of Representatives. But this is not the case, because his plan is to take advantage for political purposes to generate alarm among the population and activate his most recalcitrant base.
It will not take much work for them, since they have been preparing the ground even since the era of Donald Trump as president, who, although he lost resoundingly at the polls, still retains the support of that social segment that believes in conspiracy theories based on ignorance, racism and xenophobia, and which have led to tragic acts of violence against minorities.
That’s what Republicans have done over and over again over the past decades, whether they’re a majority or a minority, whether they’re in the White House or not, because fixing the issue through immigration reform that addresses all the broken issues in our immigration system would take away their card. favorite in the political game: using immigrants as scapegoats and immigration as a synonym for lack of control.
It is there precisely where the republican essence lies, whose simulation is already undeniable, as well as its intention to vanish the idea of the United States as a nation of immigrants to turn it into that anachronism that white supremacy has become with all its “privileges.” .
Because a rich and powerful nation like the United States should have the capacity to process migrants seeking asylum in an effective and orderly manner. That’s what it lives on and that’s what it has presumed throughout its history.
It is true that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that between 9,000 and 14,000 migrants will arrive at the border daily when Title 42 is lifted. In fact, DHS requested $3.4 billion in funds from Congress to implement the plan and administer the US-Mexico border after Title 42 ends.
The United States has the capacity to meet this moment, and the prospect of processing thousands of asylum claims daily should not become a nightmare. It gives the impression that the fear of perception is more than reality, considering above all that, after all, it is the border: there is always movement, it is alive, the numbers of detainees go up and down and do not depend solely on the Title 42.
For this reason, we insist that this country, which has been able to process thousands of refugees from Ukraine, could do the same with those who come from Latin America, making the process an act of dignity and not a media circus that Republican extremists can exploit. . That would be a litmus test for both the Biden administration and its opponents, but above all for American society as a whole, which would once again be faced with the dilemma of continuing to defend its values and principles, or casting its quality overboard. humanitarian as a welcoming nation.
There must be funds to have more agents and judges at ports of entry to process petitions expeditiously, just as there must be resources to house those petitioners without having to shelter under bridges or on the streets of border cities. That does not speak well of what is said to be the “most powerful nation” in the world.
After all, the end of Title 42 is something that has been anticipated since it was implemented three years ago and, as the saying goes, in warned war no people die.