May 24, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Rachel Koelzer, 202) 417-6780, rachel@nakasec.org
Judge’s Recent Decision to Maintain Title 42 is Morally, Factually Wrong
Nationwide – On Friday, May 20, a Louisiana federal judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the end of Title 42. Originally enforced by the Trump administration,Title 42 denies people their right to seek asylum and has been upheld by racism and “junk science.” Title 42 is a recent iteration of systemic brutality in the long history of violence against migrants, immigrants, and people of color.
White supremacy and greed drove the United States’ founding and inception and are deeply woven into this country’s systems and structures. Anti-Black and anti-Asian sentiment, xenophobia, and nativism have long espoused false messages of danger and propelled legislative efforts to bar specific groups from entering the United States – from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to today’s Title 42. We reject these false claims as morally and factually wrong. We affirm the rights of every person – regardless of color, ability, or class, the right to live safely and to seek refuge and asylum.
Jung Woo Kim, co-director of the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, asserted: “Judge Summerhay’s decision is morally wrong and flies in the face of international refugee and asylum treaties. What’s more, the pretend care for public health is insulting. Title 42 is driven by racism and nativism, period. If concern was truly about the public or our health, there would be policies that create accessible healthcare, quality education, affordable housing, and other vital resources. The real danger to public health are the corporations that profit from locking our people in cages and militarizing the border, and the politicians they buy. All people – young and old, Asian or Black, Latino or white, immigrant or indigenous, deserve to seek a better life and live safely. The Biden administration and Congress must appeal this decision and refuse any attempts to codify this racist policy into law.”
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Founded in 1994, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)’s mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans to achieve social, economic, and racial justice. The NAKASEC Network is HANA Center (Illinois), Hamkae Center (fka NAKASEC VA) (Virginia), Woori Center (Pennsylvania), MinKwon Center for Community Action (New York) and Woori Juntos (Texas).
