Why is the Biden administration turning its back on asylum seekers?

President BidenJoe BidenCapitol fencing starts coming down after ‘Justice for J6’ rally Senate parliamentarian nixes Democrats’ immigration plan Biden pushes back at Democrats on taxes MORE took office with the promise to “listen to the science” and adopt evidence-based pandemic policies. He also pledged to restore the United States’s moral leadership by building our asylum system back better.

Yet after taking some laudable first steps to restore access to asylum, the Biden administration has fully embraced a Trump-era policy that exposes refugees to grave dangers, while exacerbating the spread of COVID-19.

Known as “Title 42,” the policy exploits an obscure public health law to close our borders to people seeking asylum. The Trump administration introduced Title 42 in 2020, purportedly to curb the spread of COVID-19. Under Title 42, people who ask for asylum at the border are denied the opportunity to seek safety. They are instead summarily “expelled” by U.S. officials to Mexico, or to the very countries they’ve fled.

We have seen the tragic results. Human rights investigators have documented more than 6,300 kidnappings, rapes and other violent assaults against people expelled to Mexico during the first seven months of the Biden administration. Others have been placed on “death flights” to countries in violent turmoil, such as Haiti. Families with infants, pregnant women, survivors of severe torture — none have been spared.

When questioned about their decision to continue – and even escalate – expulsions of asylum seekers, administration officials echo their predecessors, claiming the policy is a pandemic necessity.

But public health and epidemiological experts have seen through this justification since day one. In fact, the Trump White House imposed Title 42 over objections from top doctors within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “It’s to keep Hispanics out of the country. And it’s wrong,” lamented Dr. Martin Cetron, the agency’s director of global migration and quarantine.

In fact, Stephen MillerStephen MillerDefense & National Security: The post-airlift evacuation struggle How Trump broke the system that offers protection to Afghan allies Sunday shows preview: Bombing in Kabul delivers blow to evacuation effort; US orders strikes on ISIS-K MORE, Trump’s chief immigration adviser, floated the idea of invoking public health authority to close the border long before COVID-19 entered the picture.

And let’s be clear: There is no coherent public health rationale for singling out people seeking safety. While Title 42 has completely shut the door on asylum seekers, our government has allowed tens of millions of other travelers, including tourists, to cross the U.S.-Mexico border freely during the pandemic, with no testing or quarantine requirements.

Public health experts have implored the administration to see reason and stop the expulsions. They have even provided a detailed roadmap for…