The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has decided to end the controversial border policy that kept thousands of asylum seekers from coming into the U.S.
“After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC Director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary,” the CDC said in announcing the forthcoming change.
It means the policy, known as Title 42, will end on May 23, 2022.
It was put into place at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 by the Trump administration. The policy says that border officials can prevent asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants from crossing onto U.S. soil and expel them if they do manage to get inside the country. Those expulsions sent many back to the country they crossed from — generally Mexico — or to their countries of origin without screening them for protection needs as usually required under both U.S. law and international treaties.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images