Democratic senators concerned Biden's Title 42 response undermines asylum protections

Three U.S. senators have released a statement ahead of the Biden administration lifting the Title 42 public health order, expressing their disappointment at the decision to instead implement a transit ban that they say will limit access to the country's asylum system.

Sens. Bob Menendez, Ben Ray Luján, and Alex Padilla stated that the Title 42 policy was a harmful Trump-era relic designed to create chaos at the border and turn away asylum seekers.

They are urging the Biden administration to implement policies that maintain the nation's historic commitment to asylum seekers, secure the border, and invest in migration management throughout the Western Hemisphere.

"It is disappointing to see the administration instead chose to move forward with a harmful transit ban that fundamentally limits access to our nation’s asylum system," the statement said. 

The senators also called for the deployment of FEMA to support border communities in the short-term, the designation of Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua for TPS, and the issuance of a new TPS designation for Guatemala.

They emphasized their readiness to work with the administration but emphasize that it must commit to doing so without fundamentally undermining the asylum system.