The Arizona Border Welcoming Task Force (AZWTF) calls on United States Senators to reject all “poison pill” amendments introduced to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, including all anti-immigrant amendments. The Inflation Reduction Act is a historic investment in battling climate change, reducing prescription drug costs, expanding healthcare, and addressing inflation, and the legislation should not be derailed by extremist, anti-immigrant amendments that would put people’s lives in danger and end asylum as we know it.
AZWTF urges Senators to oppose amendments that would end asylum at the border by codifying and indefinitely extending the Title 42 border closure; further militarize the border; further criminalize people seeking safety and protection in the United States; and all other anti-immigrant amendments that would advance a far-right, xenophobic agenda and derail the Inflation Reduction Act. This legislation is meant to provide relief and empowerment to all hardworking families, and it is the obligation of U.S. Senators to ensure that nothing gets in the way of that.
Furthermore, the people we serve deserve more than to be used as political pawns in partisan fights in Washington, D.C. Every single day, policies such as Title 42 and Remain in Mexico put real families and people who are already fleeing political and religious persecution and violence in even greater danger as they are denied access to the U.S. asylum process. Codifying and indefinitely extending these deadly policies would cause grave and irreparable harm to people seeking safety in the United States.
Simply put, it would be disheartening and devastating if the most significant immigration legislation to pass during this Congress effectively ended access to asylum and made life harder for immigrants, their families, and their communities. We call on the Senate to reject such amendments and pass this bill cleanly.
The Arizona Border Welcoming Task Force (AZWTF) is a coalition of humanitarian and legal service providers in the Arizona-Sonora border region, all of whom serve migrants seeking safety in the United States. AZWTF has met regularly with representatives from DHS agencies and the White House since early 2021, fiercely advocating that the rights of asylum seekers be respected in U.S. border policies and practices.
