Photo by Anthony Albright on Flickr

Title 42, the border policy that mass-expels migrants at the border, is set to lift on May 11, 2023 right before the clock hits midnight. 

In anticipation, the Biden administration declared last Thursday a swath of new immigration measures calling to replace the established restrictions of Title 42 through other means - a way to continue the mass denial of immigrants at our southern border.

These new or repurposed policies include harsher criminal charges and consequences for people attempting to cross the border, and doubles down on deportations and detentions. They also include an increase in surveillance and “regional processing centers.” These measures further militarize the border region and deter future migration.

The better alternative would be to enhance processing of immigrants to allow entry to the country, and to work toward pathways to legal residence and citizenship for those seeking a better life.

In this announcement, the administration alarmingly calls for “surging resources” and more money to forcefully turn back immigrants from the border and from inside the U.S.

Tens of billions of taxpayer dollars already go to ICE and CBP every year, with more than $442 billion for ICE and CBP over the past twenty years since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). More money means more border enforcement, in which ICE and CBP continue ongoing practices of separating families and inflicting unimaginable horrors, fear and suffering to immigrants. Our leaders are also denying every individual’s human right to seek asylum at the border. 

Instead of adding on to the tens of billions of dollars that go to ICE and CBP, our government must seriously consider the transformative reinvestment of funds to true human needs and comprehensive immigration reform to welcome and take care of our communities. It is unfair to implement these band-aid immigration policies, heartlessly steering the course of immigrants and asylees toward destabilization and depriving them of their human right to move freely and live more than decent lives.