The Biden administration restored a modicum of reality to U.S. immigration policy recently when it rescinded what was known as Title 42. That measure, established by the Trump administration on public health grounds but converted into an all-purpose anti-immigration tool, has failed to resolve any immigration problem while putting thousands of people in danger.

It always has been legal for anyone to enter the United States and ask for asylum. Hundreds of thousands of people do so every year, and are not “illegal immigrants” as they await the disposition of those cases.

Under federal law, economic hardship or general political oppression are not grounds for asylum. To gain asylum, applicants must prove that they would face specific danger if they return to their home countries. In 2021, according to an immigration-tracking program at Syracuse University, the United States denied 63% of asylum applications, down from more than 70% the previous year.

Title 42 provided for the rapid expulsion of asylum-seekers without hearings, denying them the opportunity to make their cases and, in many instances, exposing them to danger in their home countries.

Though the Trump administration established the rule, the Biden administration used it across 16 months to expel, without due process, about 1.7 million asylum-seekers.

In eliminating the rule Friday, the administration restored hope for untold numbers of oppressed people, and honored the United States’ own principles and history as a beacon for those seeking freedom.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre (TNS)