(Wisconsin) – Tomorrow, Thursday, May 11, Title 42 is scheduled to sunset. Title 42, is a Trump-era deadly and discriminatory policy, with no public health justification. This shameful policy has resulted in human rights violations at the border from asylum seekers, who are mostly women and children, fleeing violence by cartels or violent discrimination as a protected group.
Under Title 42, asylum seekers have been denied their lawful right under international treaties and U.S. law for humanitarian relief and protection. Title 42 has also resulted in a severe backlog and inhumane conditions for thousands of people who are sitting ducks for the cartels at the border.
In response to the anticipated lifting of Title 42, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera, said:
“Now is the time to close this shameful chapter in U.S. history and reflect the aspirations and ideals of this country to welcome those fleeing poverty, persecution, and violence.
Voces de la Frontera receives around 3-4 asylum cases a week, and we know statewide asylum seekers largely from Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Guatemala are living in communities -both rural and urban- across the state. They have basic and urgent needs and are seeking to build a better life in our state. President Biden must be an alternative to the far right. At this time his policies on asylum have been a mixed bag of allowing some people in and criminalizing others. Ensuring strong human rights policies and delivering on immigration reform must be treated as the national priority it is.”
Since October of 2022, Voces has been working with 27 allied nonprofit organizations, interfaith groups and government agencies in the Greater Milwaukee Area called the “Rapid Response Welcome Coalition”. The coalition is focused on collaborating more effectively to meet the basic needs of asylum seekers that are already here including food, shelter, clothing, medicine, legal support, translation services, hygiene kits, transportation, court accompaniment, as well as advocacy to speak in one voice.
Rosita Garcia, a Voces member, and trans asylum seeker from Guatemala who fled her home country for being persecuted as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, said during a recent press conference:
“I left my country because of the discrimination against the LGBTQ community. In Guatemala, on any street corner they looked at me, they insulted me, they threw stones at me, they tried to burn me, they tried to kill me with four bullets. I went from one city to another and everything was the same. I no longer had peace or life in Guatemala.
I went to Mexico to work in a banana plantation in Chiapas, also facing discriminatory violence. A group attacked me with a machete, cutting my neck, they hurt my testicles, and they cut off three fingers of my hand. They stuck a knife close to my heart.
That’s why I looked to come to the U.S. where I see the difference between one country and another. I feel free. Thanks to Voces de la Frontera, I was able to apply for asylum and I have my work permit, social security and I am on track in the asylum process. I am grateful to be here today and can say that a better life is possible!”
