We recently celebrated July 24, the day the Latter-day Saint pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. A year and a half earlier, the first company of wagons pulled away from Nauvoo, Illinois, to find refuge somewhere in Northern Mexico, near the Great Salt Lake.
We often forget that these people were leaving United States territory to find sanctuary from the policies of state governments and also the lawlessness that so often confronted them because of their faith. They feared for their lives and made the monumental and heart-rending decision to leave all that they knew behind to hopefully find that peace.
In 1847, it was not difficult for the Saints to cross the border into Mexico. They faced no border patrol, no checkpoints, no questions. They didn’t have to ask for help in order to leave the violence behind. No one stopped them from building their homes and planting their crops on Mexican and Native American soil. Salt Lake City, and other settlements throughout Utah, flourished and grew.
In the 21st century, those who are seeking refuge for their life and the lives of their families are met with all the obstacles the 1847 refugees were not. They must not only ask for help but prove that their life is in peril. Someone seeking asylum must tell the hardest story of their lives to complete strangers who hold all the power.
Even if they are believed, the story does not end there -- they must tell it, again, and again, often at multiple levels of government. It’s not easy, but every person at our border has the legal and moral right to ask for this help.
Or they should. But, when COVID-19 began, the government put into place a policy called “Title 42.” Under this policy, some people are immediately turned back at the border. This is done without the chance to say they fear for their life, to even ask for sanctuary, for refuge. Their story is never heard by a government official.
Title 42 is nominally due to public health concerns, but the Center for Disease Control already tried to end the policy. It’s still in place today because politicians are trying to extend the policy by statute and through litigation, arguing that removing this policy will overwhelm the border.
But the southern border is being made worse by Title 42. People who are expelled under Title 42 can return to the border again and again until they finally have an opportunity to tell their story, and they do. So, it’s no surprise that now 1 in 3 people the Border Patrol encounters has tried before. This is a waste of government time and the people’s money, and the longer the policy stays in place, the worse it will get.
More than such practicalities, denying access to asylum is contrary to both the history of our state and the values we hold dear today. A sentiment I hear from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, “We were once refugees.” As part of this sentiment, people express the desire to help refugees, from donating food and clothing, to volunteering their time to serve missions with the refugees, to tutoring in English.
Regardless of religious affiliation, Utahans are known for their kindness toward refugees. In 2019, the prior administration sought to limit the number of refugees the United States was willing to accept, from 30,000 a year to 18,000. In October that year, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert requested the administration to “allow us to accept more international refugees in Utah.” We should, at the very least, give each asylum seeker at the border the ability to tell their story and be heard.
Title 42 is a policy that denies access to asylum and because of this, it is contrary to our history, our culture, and values we should hold dear. It needs to end.
Michelle Pollock
Michelle Pollock is a lifelong Utahn and archivist at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City.
Amy Grenier
Amy Grenier is policy and practice counsel at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.