Washington, DC – While lawmakers in Washington, DC consider plans to vote on anti-asylum legislation that would make it difficult to rescind Title 42, Black asylum seekers and advocacy groups at the border held a funeral last week for two Haitian migrants who lost their lives in Tijuana after being blocked from requesting asylum under Title 42. Jocelyn Anselme, 34, was murdered, and Calory Archange, 30, died of a heart attack after being denied adequate medical care.
People of faith join the Haitian Bridge Alliance and other directly impacted groups in crying out for an end to Title 42 and white supremacy in all its forms–from direct acts of hateful extremism to policies that exclude and kill. This outcry was echoed in a letter delivered to Congress this week condemning Title 42 and racist ideologies fueling violence against Black people and immigrants of color, signed by 140 organizations including multiple Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) members.
The letter states: “The killer in Buffalo issued an online manifesto that includes a full-throated recitation of the “Great Replacement” theory. This conspiracy theory rooted in hatred purports that immigrants of color are coming to Europe and America in a scheme to “replace” white people and are aided and abetted by Jews… This racist theory and its offshoots have permeated the political sphere and the media, fostered and normalized by public officials, online platforms, and media commentators. Its amplification has transformed public sentiment…
Efforts to upend our asylum system are directly related to these theories and the attacks they inspire. Despite a recent court ruling that will keep Title 42 in place indefinitely, far-right members of Congress are threatening to hold hostage important COVID funding legislation to move forward policies that would dismantle our asylum system for years to come, blocking refugees and asylum seekers of color at our borders.”
The member organizations of the IIC urge Congress and the administration to recognize the devastating impact of white supremacy on public opinion and public policy. They must take a bold stand against the anti-Blackness in our nation’s asylum system and put an immediate end to Title 42.
“As we pray for strength, comfort and peace for all those who loved Jocelyn Anselme and Calory Archange,” stated Reverend Leslie Watson Wilson, National Director, African American Ministers In Action. “We, the members of the ecumenical African American Ministers In Action (AAMIA) also pray for those who uphold Title 42 and in doing so uphold injustice, racism, and the nightmare that is the division of our nation. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” We pray that members of Congress will have the vision, courage and compassion to do what is right and necessary for those whose lives are just as meaningful, just as valuable as their own by ending Title 42.”
“Jocelyn Anseleme and Calory Archange join the growing number of lives lost to our failure to roll back asylum-denying policies at the southern border,” said Dylan Corbett, Executive Director of Hope Border Institute. “This needless loss of life is inexcusable. In the face of the denial of asylum, border communities affirm our readiness to offer welcome. In the face of deadly policies like TItle 42 and Remain in Mexico, we affirm the life and dignity of every human person, including those desperately in need of protection at the border.”
“The preventable deaths of Jocelyn Anselme and Calory Archange show us with unequivocal clarity that Title 42 kills,” said Elissa Diaz, Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy, Church World Service. “It is a tool of white supremacy that’s been wrongfully disguised and weaponized as a public health measure, violating human rights obligations. To lawmakers in Washington–especially those that claim to live out the convictions of their faith–where is your stance for righteousness, justice, and the sacredness of human life in what you legislate and how you vote? For those murdered in Buffalo; for Jocelyn, Calory, and countless other Haitians: you must vocally reject white supremacy. You must vocally reject Title 42 and all policies that exclude, erase, and kill Black migrants.”
“Our hearts are saddened by the preventable and tragic deaths of Jocelyn Anselme and Calory Archange in Tijuana. It did not have to be this way,” stated Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights, The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church. “We are frustrated by the lack of urgency by this Congress and Administration to protect Black lives, whether they be citizens or immigrants. Title 42 enables an atmosphere for the deaths of Anselme and Archange to become a reality. As United Methodists, we hold that all individuals—whether citizens or not—have worth, dignity, inherent value, and rights. Therefore, we strongly admonish Title 42 and Congress’ attempt to enshrine it as law through Senate Bill 4036. We call on Congress and the Biden Administration to end Title 42 and any efforts to make it law. We commit the lives of Anselme and Archange into the hands of the Almighty, holding their families and communities in prayer, and challenge Congress to not turn a blind eye to this unnecessary tragedy.”
“We grieve for and with the families of Haitian migrants Jocelyn Anselme and Calory Archange who sought asylum, but because of Title 42 were sent back into Mexico and died,” said Fran Eskin-Royer, Executive Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. “Our Statue of Liberty and American values embrace all. So should we welcome all, grounded in the knowledge that each and every one of us is endowed with dignity given to us by God. No one has more value than another. So why is it that our immigration, asylum, and refugee policies – or how these policies are implemented – seem to disadvantage those with darker skin? Changes must be made by Congress and by all of us.”
Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries stated, “Our Haitian Disciples congregations, and all who stand with them, continue to join the cry of the prophet Habakkuk in asking, ‘How Long, O Lord?’ How long will it be until a violent and cruel world will repent, and God will remove evil forever? Surely, the deaths of Jocelyn Anselme and Calory Archange must point us to speak out not just against the conditions that provoked their senseless deaths, but also to name and act against the replacement theories and misguided values that undergird such violence. Such actions must include the ending of cruel policies such as Title 42, MPP, and others that exclude and offer the opposite of God’s dignity and love for all.”
“That Title 42 is represented as a public health good, while resulting in the all-too preventable deaths of Jocelyn Anselme and Calory Archange, shows it is simply a smokescreen for racist immigration policies,” said Katie Adams, Domestic Policy Advocate for the United Church of Christ, and Interim Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. “Over and again we see that U.S. immigration policies result in significant harm to Black migrants and yet many lawmakers in Washington are trying to keep Title 42 in place. Faith gives us words and rituals for grieving, and we grieve for the many lives cut brutally short due to immigration policies drenched in white supremacy. Faith also reminds us that all are beloved of God and is the impetus for us to implore those who make our laws to have compassion, denounce Title 42, and instead enact policies to support those seeking asylum and safety.”
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants. Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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