Title 42 and the Haitian Border Crisis: Is the American Asylum System Irreparably Broken?

The images of mounted Border Patrol agents “pushing back Haitian migrants crossing the Rio Grande to try to reach U.S. soil, [has] prompted outrage among Democrats and called into question President Biden’s decision to swiftly deport thousands who had been arriving en masse at a small Texas Border town.” This horrific encounter took place upon the arrival at the U.S. border of thousands of Haitians seeking refuge from a litany of crises. Since its origins as a country, Haiti and its citizens have been saddled with a substantial debt that was not settled until 1947 because of voluntary contributions by Haitian citizens. To this day, Haiti has not economically recovered from this debt and the country has been plagued by, the recent assassination of their President, Jouvenel Moise, “[p]olitical instability, the lasting effects of a devastating earthquake and a cholera epidemic, foreign political meddling, and gang violence,” yet Haitian citizens are being denied asylum because of an interpretation of a public health services law that is far beyond the original legislative intent. This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice website on October 5, 2021. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above