Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville of Washington, the chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Migration, welcomed the Biden administration’s decision to reverse Covid-related asylum limits implemented in 2020 under Title 42 of the US Code.

“Originally begun in a purported effort to reduce COVID-19 transmission, this policy has led to the expulsion of more than one million migrants by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2020, including many asylum-seeking children and families,” the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said in the statement. “In implementing this policy, DHS has overridden normal immigration proceedings and skirted due process protections, forcibly returning vulnerable individuals to places where their lives are in danger.”

Stating that many migrants “are already at our door, having been forced to languish in Mexico for an indefinite period of time, unable to avail themselves of the opportunity to seek protection in accordance with US and international law,” Bishop Dorsonville called on the Biden administration to “implement a comprehensive plan for the border that ensures the humane treatment of all persons and respects their God-given dignity, while safeguarding due process.”