Change.org - Stop deporting Haitians

The nation of Haiti is in crisis. After political assassinations, earthquakes, and economic disasters, many have been forced to flee to seek asylum in the U.S. But the Biden administration refuses to take them in when they need it most. Instead, they are continuing Trump policies and inhumanely chasing down and deporting Haitians back to a country that is crumbling. Join the Black Voters Matter Fund and tell Biden that the voters who put him in office will not tolerate this kind of blatant racism from his administration. Tell Biden to end Title 42 and admit Haitian Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the U​.​S. 2,014 have signed Black Voters Matter Fund’s petition. Let’s get to 2,500!

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Black asylum-seekers have been seeking asylum in the U.S. by way of the U.S./Mexico border for over a decade. There was a dramatic increase in the number of Black asylum-seekers at the border – primarily Haitians – after the devastating earthquake in 2010. Thousands of Haitians fled their country and sought refuge in countries throughout the region, including Brazil, Venezuela, and Chile whose governments at that time were open to receiving them. Dire political and resultant economic changes in those countries have forced Haitians who had escaped there to move again. This time, they head toward the U.S. Once again, thousands of Haitians were on the move, traveling through ten countries and eleven borders to seek asylum in the U.S. By 2019, African asylum-seekers joined the movement of Haitian and indigenous asylum-seekers in making the treacherous journey through jungles, rivers, and along the way experiencing police violence, detention prisons, rape and robbery. Despite the desperate needs of Black asylum-seekers at the border, U.S. policy has systematically prevented Black asylum-seekers at the border from seeking asylum in the U.S., a violation of universally-embraced human rights practices, as well as U.S. and international asylum laws. Black asylum-seekers have been forced to wait several months to make their asylum claims because of an Obama administration policy called metering, which requires asylum-seekers to ‘take a number’ and wait until Customs and Border Patrol selects their assigned number. On September 3, 2021, a federal district judge ruled metering as unconstitutional. The Trump administration worsened conditions with its shutdown of the border to asylum-seekers under Title 42 – a program that has continued under the Biden administration. On September 16th, a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to stop using Title 42 to expel families who are seeking asylum. Instead of processing Black asylum-seekers, the Biden administration is deporting them in a betrayal of its promise to create fair and humane border policy.  Today’s Crisis: The Biden administration is forcibly returning to Haiti over 10,000 Haitians  Almost 10,000 migrants from Haiti and elsewhere are currently camped under a bridge that divides the U.S. and Mexico in Del Rio, Texas. Media is reporting that 20,000 more are expected in the coming days. The migrants are living in squalid conditions while Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) claim not to have the capacity to process asylum in a timely manner for these people in crisis. The Biden administration has decided to respond to the crisis with “mass deportations” of Haitians in Del Rio, Texas beginning Sunday, September 19th, in spite of the devastation and humanitarian crisis in Haiti. We call on the Biden administration and DHS to immediately halt expulsions to Haiti due to the ongoing political, climate, and public health crisis there.  Over the weekend, border patrol agents on horseback whipped and beat up Haitian asylum seekers forcing them away from crossing into the US border.    Call to Action  At this critical moment when the Biden administration is continuing the anti-Black border enforcement policies of the past two administrations, Black Voters Matter, BAJI, and other partners are calling on Biden to grant humanitarian parole to Black asylum-seekers at the U.S./Mexico border, and to stop all expulsions and deportations. We call for an end of Title 42 and the metering system, both of which disproportionately impact Black asylum-seekers and remain unconstitutional.   ACTION NEEDED FROM THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION Immediately Grant Humanitarian Parole to Black Asylum-Seekers at the U.S./Mexico Border President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas MUST grant immediate humanitarian parole to all Black asylum-seekers at the border, and allow them to process their asylum claims on the U.S. side of the border.   Immediately Stop Expelling and Deporting Haitian and Other Black Asylum-Seekers President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas MUST stop expelling and deporting Haitian and other Black asylum-seekers. Asylum-seekers have the human rights and the right under U.S. and international law to seek asylum in the U.S. The U.S. is violating those rights when it expels and deports asylum-seekers.  The expulsions and deportations are especially egregious because asylum-seekers are not granted a hearing before they are sent back to the terror and violence they fled.   Immediately Revoke Title 42 President Biden MUST reject and revoke the Title 42 order that prevents asylum-seekers from making their asylum claims. During the Trump administration, Democrats – including then-candidate Biden –  harshly criticized Title 42 as a racist ruse designed to keep Black and indigenous asylum-seekers from making their claims to asylum in the US. Yet, the Biden administration has not ended Title 42; it has renewed it and continues to appeal federal courts that have found Title 42 unconstitutional.   Immediately End the Metering System Used to Process Asylum-Seekers at the U.S./Mexico Border We urge President Biden to immediately end the use of a metering system to process asylum-seekers at the border. The metering system disproportionately impacts Black migrants and has resulted in Black asylum-seekers languishing at the border for several months and even years. Black asylum-seekers stuck in Mexico face anti-Blackness violence from Mexican police and other officials as well as civilians. Black asylum-seekers are denied housing, medical attention, employment, child education, and basic survival needs due to race discrimination. Black LGBTQ asylum-seekers are particularly targeted for violence and discrimination.   Biden MUST honor international law  The principle of non-refoulement under international human rights law forbids a country that is receiving asylum seekers, in this case the U.S., from sending people back to the country that they are fleeing. According to the United Nations: “Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be re- turned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.”

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