Bishop Seitz criticizes expansion of Title 42 to ‘vulnerable’ Venezuelans October 18, 2022By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, World News EL PASO, Texas (CNS) — The Biden administration’s Oct. 12 decision to apply Title 42 to Venezuelans at the U.S.-Mexico border “will have an immediate impact on our border community,” said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso. Title 42 of the Public Health Safety Act was enforced under the Trump administration and has kept asylum-seekers from entering the U.S. because of health concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the new rules, Venezuelans who cross the border illegally are being be deported to Mexico. Venezuelans in Cucuta, Colombia, walk over the Simon Bolivar International Bridge between Colombia and Venezuela Sept. 24, 2022, before the official reopening of the border that has been shut for the past seven years. (CNS photo/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria, Reuters) The Biden administration also announced a program to allow 24,000 Venezuelans into the U.S. if they have a financial sponsor and meet other eligibility criteria. The plan is similar to one the administration rolled out in April for accepting Ukrainian refugees. “We are disappointed at the expansion of Title 42 to vulnerable Venezuelans,” Bishop Seitz said in a statement. “Now we must all work harder, especially the faith community, to build a culture of hospitality that respects the dignity of those who migrate, and to continue to press lawmakers and the Biden administration to establish a safe, humane, functioning and rights-respecting system to ensure protection to those in need,” the bishop said. In his statement, Bishop Seitz and the Hope Border Institute announced over $100,000 will be provided to meet the emergency needs of migrants arriving to the Ciudad Juárez (Mexico)-El Paso border community. The financial support will help cover the costs of food, shelter and health care. The funds are being made available through the Border Refugee Assistance Fund, a joint project of the bishop of El Paso and the Hope Border Institute to meet humanitarian needs of migrants at the border. The Hope Border Institute also joined with Mexican branches of Jesuit Migrant Service and Jesuit Refugee Service in decrying the Biden administration policy on Venezuelans. “We urge the governments of both countries to act immediately ensuring their protection,” the groups said in an Oct. 13 statement, noting that about 330 Venezuelan migrants had just been deported to Mexico under Title 42. The Trump administration first enforced Title 42 of the Public Health Safety Act during the pandemic. When he was running for president, then-candidate Joe Biden had denounced a policy he said it inflicted “cruelty and exclusion at every turn.” Read More Immigration & Migration No sanctuary? Trump reportedly plans to reverse policy, permit ICE arrests at churches Post-election migration perspective and implications for policy As border state bishops, New Mexico prelates urge Trump to reconsider mass deportation plans From Venezuela to Minnesota: Diocesan priest welcomes members of his family to U.S. Catholic groups reiterate ‘solidarity with immigrants’ amid a new administration, Congress Migrants hope, pray to enter U.S. ahead of presidential inauguration Copyright © 2022 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Print
