ReliefWeb

"Title 42 does not prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it does prevent children and families from seeking protection"

**Washington, D.C. (August 3, 2021) **-- Save the Children is deeply distressed by last night's announcement that the Biden administration will continue to employ Title 42 for the foreseeable future. Enacted in March of 2020, Title 42 closes the U.S. border to all asylum-seekers on the grounds of protecting public health. However, this policy is not based on scientifically grounded public health evidence, as explained in a letter sent to the Trump administration by medical and public health experts.

"Title 42 does not prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it does prevent children and families from seeking protection. To indefinitely continue the use of Title 42 to turn away asylum-seekers is unconscionable, particularly after the Biden administration claimed to be in the process of rescinding this harmful policy." said Christy Gleason, Vice President of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns at Save the Children. "In continuing to expel asylum-seekers -- including some families with young children -- we knowingly and willingly send them back to Mexico or their countries of origin where they are susceptible to extortion, rape, kidnapping and other violent crimes. Now, some families are making the devastating choice to send their children to the U.S. alone so they don't have to face these well-reported dangers. Families should never be forced to make that choice. Families must remain together."

Save the Children -- together with its political advocacy arm, Save the Children Action Network -- has advocated against this harmful policy since March 2020. Save the Children Action Network's over 375,000 grassroots advocates have sent more than 84,000 messages to Congress and the Trump and Biden White Houses, urging them to rescind Title 42.

"Our advocacy efforts will continue until Title 42 is revoked, in full. We urge the Biden administration to reverse this decision immediately, and grant asylum-seekers their internationally guaranteed right to seek refuge," continued Gleason. "We, as a nation, must uphold our long-standing American values and remember our proud history of being a safe-haven for the persecuted. We can -- and must -- do better."