Wisconsin Immigrant Advocacy Groups See Mixed Results After the End of Title 42

Thursday, June 1st, 2023 -- 11:06 AM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) One Wisconsin group that provides services to immigrants says it’s seen an increase in asylum cases since the end of Title 42 earlier this month.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, another organization says it was already seeing elevated cases and hasn't seen a noticeable uptick since the pandemic-era policy expired. Title 42 allowed U.S. officials to turn away asylum seekers who came to the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent spreading COVID-19.

The policy ended May 11 when the federal government lifted the national COVID-19 emergency designation. However, the Biden Administration added new policies to crack down on illegal border crossings, including barring migrants caught crossing from returning to the U.S. for five years and imposing criminal charges if they do.

Voces de la Frontera, a Milwaukee-based immigrant rights nonprofit, has seen the number of asylum cases it receives each week nearly double since the end of Title 42, according to Primitivo Torres, deputy director of civic engagement.

He said Voces de la Frontera’s asylum cases have increased from three to four per week to five to 10, with many asylum seekers coming from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Meanwhile, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a social service agency, was seeing increased asylum seekers prior to Title 42 ending and has not seen a big uptick in recent weeks, according to Barbara Graham, an attorney and the organization’s director of Refugee and Immigration Services.

Over the last couple of years, she said the organization has seen an influx in people seeking asylum settling in Fond du Lac and Racine, not as much in Milwaukee. Torres said policies by states like Texas and Florida have also made the Midwest a more attractive destination for asylum seekers.

Since last April, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed his state’s Division of Emergency Management to bus migrants to cities like Washington D.C., New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent planes of migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

He signed a bill in February that would expand similar efforts. Torres said those actions have made asylum seekers view states like Wisconsin as safe places where they can find employment as they work through the asylum process.

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