NORTHAMPTON — More than 50 people gathered in Pulaski Park on Monday for a noontime protest against Title 42, part of an international day of demonstrations decrying the U.S. immigration policy that allows for the expulsion of asylum seekers from the country without a court hearing.
The controversial policy implemented under the Trump administration was ostensibly designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by immigrants arriving in the U.S. from Canada and Mexico. That rationale, according to several speakers at Monday’s rally, is based on racist stereotypes and sends vulnerable people back into harm’s way.
Demonstrators demanded that the Biden administration end the policy immediately.
State Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, spoke to the crowd and asked a young woman to bring her handmade sign closer so she could read it out loud.
“‘Ports of entry for shoppers, tourists, travelers, but not asylum seekers,’” Domb read. “In the past two years, over 1.5 million people have been turned away because of Title 42. … It is based on stereotypes that people who don’t live in the United States, particularly people from Latin America and South America, are vectors of disease, somehow dirty and will make our society bad. That’s wrong.”
Before Title 42, asylum seekers were either detained or released into the U.S. while their cases were heard. Domb said that advancements in managing the spread of COVID-19 have made it clear that the stricter policy is not scientifically necessary.
“There is no need to disguise racism behind public health,” Domb said. “As a second-generation Jewish-American, I wouldn’t be here” without the U.S. offering asylum to immigrants. She noted that the same stereotypes she blames for Title 42 were partly responsible for the historical persecution of European Jews.
Shel Horowitz, a member of Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western Massachusetts, said the rally was held in conjunction with about 40 other migrant-led actions around the country to mark the two-year anniversary of Title 42. Similar demonstrations were planned on the Mexican side of the border as well, he said.
Jews have spent their history “often being refugees, often being stateless, often being the people nobody wanted,” Horowitz said. “Jews were turned away at borders, including the United States, and sent to their deaths in Europe. … We take seriously the mandate to welcome the stranger.”
Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice organized the rally, which was co-sponsored by Indivisible Northampton, Community Asylum Seekers Project, the Quaker group Mount Toby Friends Meeting, Beit Ahava Reform Synagogue of Northampton and other temples in the Pioneer Valley.
State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, said the Russian invasion of Ukraine and climate change are creating new refugees and asylum seekers, and the U.S. is losing “the moral high ground” by shutting down its borders to certain people.
“It’s true that we are talking about opening our doors to Ukrainians who are fleeing, and we have tried to bring in Afghan refugees,” but there is a backlog of 42,000 applicants from Afghanistan alone, Sabadosa said, highlighting the urgency and frequency of asylum requests. “We are turning people away at our borders as we argue that other countries should let them in.”
Celestin, an asylum seeker from Rwanda who said providing his last name could expose him to danger, is training as an accountant while he awaits work authorization. He spoke on behalf of the Community Asylum Seekers Project, based in Vermont. He said Title 42 is “illegal” under international law and “against human rights.”
“I fled my country because I was persecuted by the official of my country,” Celestin said. “The only thing I wanted was to protect my life, to choose a country where I would be safe. … Here, I feel safe, and I would like this government to give opportunities and chances to all refugees to be free and enjoy life. The first human right is life.”
Representatives of U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, read statements. Koby Gardner-Levine, McGovern’s district representative, called Title 42 “heinous” and “one of the cruelest Trump-era policies,” and said the congressman has written to the Centers for Disease Control to urge them to rescind it.
On Sunday, when Title 42 officially turned two years old, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees tweeted criticism of the policy for denying entry to “vulnerable families fleeing violent gangs and human rights abuses.”
“The U.S. has since carried out 1.7+ million expulsions, denying people the right to request asylum. The devastating impact has put lives in danger,” the agency tweeted.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.