Under Title 42, most migrants who recently arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum from U.S. authorities were rejected. The exceptions established under this regulation provided relief for thousands of migrants who were able to enter the United States, but they also exposed the dysfunctional, arbitrary, politicized, and even racist nature of the U.S. asylum system and other forms of international protection in that country.
President Donald Trump sought in various ways to dismantle the US asylum system, but his administration found the COVID-19 pandemic to be the ideal excuse to suspend it, at least temporarily. On March 20, based on a health regulation—codified in Title 42—and under the pretext of health risks, irregular migrants arriving through the southern border were ordered expelled to Mexico—or, as the case may be, Canada—or their countries of origin. This led to a widespread rejection of asylum applications, despite there being no compelling health reason to do so and in violation of the guidelines of international organizations.
With Joe Biden's assumption of the presidency of the United States, expectations arose that the Title 42 policy would be ended sooner rather than later. However, it wasn't until April 2022 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the end of this provision's implementation by May 23, 2020. The withdrawal of Title 42 was brought to trial in the federal courts, which will ultimately define certain guidelines for U.S. international protection policy. Regardless of how the issue of Title 42 implementation ends, for at least a year and four months, the Biden administration largely followed the path forged by the previous administration.
During the implementation of Title 42, migrants seeking asylum from U.S. authorities have seen their ability to obtain protection limited to a series of specific exceptions that require complex processes to gain access to the United States, and to a series of measures that allowed the entry of a limited number of migrants. Between April and August 2021, following a court ruling in an ACLU lawsuit against the U.S. federal government, U.S. authorities, for humanitarian reasons, allowed a small number of people in particularly vulnerable conditions to enter Mexican territory each day. These individuals were selected by various civil society organizations and were admitted on a daily basis. In addition to the fact that these exception programs represent only "crumbs" of protection within the framework of the widespread lack of protection for asylum seekers waiting at the border, the problem with these exception programs is that they fail to assess their impact on those seeking or requiring protection, as well as on migrant human rights defenders.
