Participating at the roundtable with Harris at El Paso International Airport were Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), and members of faith-based groups that work with immigrants.
Harris mentioned policies of family separation, “inhumane” housing for migrants, and a “broken” asylum system, in comments during the portion of the meeting open to the press pool. “Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God,” she said to Bishop Seitz, quoting Micah 6:8.
According to Bishop Seitz, advocates at the roundtable brought up “root causes” of migration to the U.S. in their meeting with Harris, as well as the administration’s Title 42 policy which prevents asylum-seekers from entering the United States due to the pandemic. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Thursday criticized “the misuse of Title 42 to turn away vulnerable asylum seekers.”
“Right now, no one, no matter how desperate their situation, has a right even to make a claim for asylum at our border,” Bishop Seitz told CNA of the Biden administration’s continuation of existing Title 42 policy.
“That has to end,” he said of the policy.
Migration, for many – especially from the “Northern Triangle” countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala – is a life-or-death issue, he emphasized. Those three countries have been known to have among the world’s highest homicide rates.
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