Title
Resolve: That the Malden City Council call on the Federal Government to cease deportations to Haiti under Title 42.
WHEREAS Malden is home to thousands of Haitian immigrants who contribute to the workforce, economy, and cultural vibrancy of the city, many of whom maintain ties to family and community members still in Haiti; and is located within the Greater Boston Haitian diaspora which is the third largest in the United States; and
WHEREAS, On March 25, 2020, the Trump Administration initiated a deportation policy under a public health law that restricts immigration at the United States-Mexican border based on an invocation of the Public Health Act under Title 42 of the U.S Code (“Title 42”) in conflict with U.S. constitutional law and international law; and
WHEREAS, The Biden Administration has continued the immigration policies of the Trump Administration, further ramping up deportations, leading to mass expulsions of Haitians under Title 42; and
WHEREAS Haitian migrants are unable to make claims for asylum as required under U.S. law and international law. Consequently, the actions of the Biden administration are contrary to U.S. and international laws against returning migrants to persecution and torture; and
WHEREAS, In early September 2021, images revealed the inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants at the hands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who, mounted on horseback, used the hides of their whips to violently chase Haitian migrants, a cruel reminder of slavery and the anti-Blackness embedded in this country’s immigration policy; and
WHEREAS, On September 24, 2021, Haitian community leaders in Boston organized a protest in front of the John F. Kennedy federal building denouncing the deportations of Haitian migrants and the inhumane treatment by border officials. Many local and state officials joined in this protest; and
WHEREAS, The deportations under Title 42 have only escalated, with the U.S. government deporting nearly 14,000 Haitian migrants since September 2021, totaling more than 17,000 Haitian migrants deported to Haiti since the beginning of the Biden Administration: and
WHEREAS, On Thursday, February 3, 2022, during Black History Month, the Biden Administration chose to extend its practices of deportation under Title 42, despite widespread opposition from human rights groups, public health officials, elected officials, and asylum advocates; and
WHEREAS Migrants are forced to return to a Haiti rife with political, social, and economic instability and are often at a greater risk of kidnappings, abuse, and violence. The United States government recognizes the risk in Haiti as the State Department’s Level 4 travel advisory to U.S. citizens currently states, “Do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and COVID-19:” and
WHEREAS, The City of Malden has long welcomed immigrants from many nations his city-whether fleeing persecution or terror, escaping gender-based violence, seeking reunion with family members, or pursuing economic opportunity; and
WHEREAS, This country has a legal and moral obligation under its founding principles, its own laws, and international laws and treaties, to receive migrants in distress in search of relief and refuge, thus measures restricting access to asylum must not be allowed to become entrenched under the pretense of public health; and
WHEREAS President Biden has expressed his commitment to reverse Trump-era immigration policies and build a humane immigration system; and
WHEREAS, We have an obligation as a City Council to ensure that we have a government and a community committed to justice and dignity for all people, including Haitian migrants seeking refuge;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Malden City Council calls for the federal government to reverse the Title 42 determination and immediately halt the deportation of Haitian migrants, thereby allowing them to seek due process through our legal system to make claims for legal status.