In response to news that the Biden administration would appeal a federal court’s decision that invalidated the Title 42 border expulsion order, the following quote is attributed to Michele Heisler, MD, MPA, medical director at Physicians for Human Rights and professor of public health and internal medicine at the University of Michigan:
“The Biden administration’s efforts to keep in place Title 42 border expulsions are shameful and dangerous. This reversal by the administration represents an affront to asylum seekers’ health and to U.S. obligations under international law.
Health professionals across the country have long shown that Title 42 does nothing to protect public health. An amicus brief PHR filed at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in August presents the overwhelming public health interest in rescinding Title 42. Title 42 has ‘no basis in public health.’
People who flee persecution and seek asylum deserve dignity, not expulsions into danger with no due process.”
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.