editorials
The Battle Over Title 42
T itle 42 is a federal health order
that was issued by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention during
the Trump administration, which relied
upon the coronavirus pandemic as a
public health reason to stop people
from entering the United States.

Under the rule, migrants appre-
hended at the border can be sent
back to their home countries imme-
diately without being given any
opportunity to request asylum pro-
tections or otherwise to plead spe-
cial circumstances to justify staying
in the U.S. Immigration advocates
have criticized the rule as nothing
more than an effort to shut down the
asylum system. Although President
Joe Biden promised that his admin-
istration would pursue a more com-
passionate approach to immigration
issues, he kept Title 42 in place.

Now, after two successful fed-
eral court challenges to the rule by
immigration advocates last month,
and mounting pressure from top
Democrats in Congress, the Biden
Title 42 presents a good opportunity
for compromise.

administration announced that it
would wind down Title 42 by late May.

That prompted predictable reactions,
with Republicans and some centrist
Democrats expressing concern that
a lifting of Title 42 will create chaos
at the border, increase the number
of migrant asylum seekers and other-
wise further burden a border control
operation that is ill equipped to deal
with the likely migrant surge.

This debate has set the stage for
a political clash over immigration
policy in the run-up to the upcom-
ing mid-term elections. Eleven sen-
ators — six Republicans and five
Democrats — have introduced legis-
lation to require the administration to
develop a detailed plan to deal with
the anticipated migrant surge before
any change can be made to Title
42. They argue that such advance
planning is necessary since even
with Title 42 in place, there were
more than 1.7 million “encounters”
between migrants and authorities at
the U.S.-Mexico border in FY 2021
— a 400% increase from FY 2020 —
and that FY 2022 “encounters” are
projected to be even higher.

All of this comes at a time when
the administration is seeking to
advance a bill for an additional $10
billion in funding for an expanded
U.S. coronavirus response and as we
are experiencing an uptick in new
COVID cases, fueled by the spread
of BA.2 — a subvariant of the omi-
cron variant.

The COVID uptick has prompted the
CDC to extend the federal transporta-
tion mask requirement through May
3 — itself a topic of debate — in order
to give the agency time to assess the
impact of the increase on those at
risk and related health care capacity
issues. According to advocates of the
Title 42 bill, the same concerns that
warrant the maintenance of protective
measures and require increased fund-
ing nationwide should also inform
decisions regarding health concerns,
capacity and other issues relating to
migrants at the border.

Title 42 presents a good opportu-
nity for compromise. While there can
be little argument that a plan for a
likely migrant surge is necessary, it
is also clear that those legitimately
seeking asylum in the U.S. must
have an opportunity to do so. We
call on leadership to come together
in good faith to develop a plan. JE
Interests, Not Friends
T he political adage that there
are no permanent friends, only
interests, rings true in the Middle
East. Saudi Arabia, once the focus of
American hopes, has been frozen out
by the Biden administration.

The kingdom’s abysmal human
rights record, its deadly and destruc-
tive war in Yemen and the mur-
der and decapitation of journalist
Jamal Khashoggi by order of Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
made friendship with the Gulf nation
hard to justify. And things got worse
after MBS’s much-publicized snub of
President Joe Biden after Russia’s
attack on Ukraine, followed by Saudi
Arabia’s refusal to honor America’s
calls to increase oil production to
help stabilize markets and further
isolate oil-rich Russia.

When the crown prince first rose to
power, there was hope. America was
attracted to the shiny object of an out-
ward-looking, modernizing authori-
tarian leader who seemed to be able
12 Like Israel, the Saudis are concerned
that U.S. reentry into an Iran deal will
not stop Iran’s regional threat.

to get things done. While MBS has
proved to be some of those things,
he has also shown himself to be a dis-
honest, impetuous thug and some-
one we should hesitate to embrace.

So, it was not surprising when last
week 31 Democratic members of
Congress wrote to Secretary of State
Antony Blinken urging that “a recali-
bration of the U.S.-Saudi partnership
is long overdue.” They pointed to the
issues mentioned above, and added
a long list of others.

Coming to Saudi Arabia’s aid was
Israel’s ambassador to Washington,
Michael Herzog. Last week, he urged
the United States to repair its rela-
APRIL 21, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
tions with Riyadh. Herzog’s words of
encouragement came in the context
of negotiations for a nuclear deal with
Iran, which is Saudi Arabia’s chief
adversary in the region. Like Israel,
the Saudis are concerned that U.S.

reentry into an Iran deal will not stop
Iran’s regional threat and are troubled
by incentives that are being discussed
that would provide Iran access to
billions of dollars to bankroll terrorist
activities across the Middle East.

The Saudis were also the hoped-
for jewel in the crown of the Abraham
Accords, which the Saudis say they
support but won’t join until Israel
makes peace with the Palestinians.

Some have also pointed out that
the Saudis aren’t likely to join the
Accords at a time of strained U.S.

relations, since they would be look-
ing for some sweetener from the
United States, similar to that given
every other Arab country that has
made peace with Israel.

In a similar vein of “no friendships,
only interests,” there is Turkey, whose
president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
has made another about face regard-
ing Israel. The authoritarian leader
is carrying out a charm offensive
after a decade of hostility and broken
relations with the Jewish state. This
month, Erdogan hosted President
Isaac Herzog in Ankara, and said he
hopes to welcome Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett soon. Erdogan seems
to hope that, through Israel, Turkey
might be able to improve its relation-
ship with the United States.

This is all part of a constantly shift-
ing Middle East where no country
feels secure for very long. JE



opinion
This Year, I Am a Refugee.

Next Year in Kharkiv
BY TANYA BORODINA
Aleksandr Mokshyn / iStock / Getty Images Plus
B ERLIN — I want to share my
story: Maybe it will inspire
someone, maybe it will upset
someone. I have an ordinary
family: me, my husband, Andrei
Barkovsky and our child,
Allochka, now 10 years old.

I was born in Ukraine, in the
city of Donetsk, but in 2014 the
war in the Donbas began. On
July 23 we grabbed a package
with documents and our little
Alla (then 2) and we fled from
the war. We arrived in Kharkiv
— a large, beautiful, peaceful
city, the original capital of Soviet Ukraine.

We left everything in Donetsk — an apartment,
our belongings, toys, photographs — and started
our lives from scratch. It was not easy: to find an
apartment, to issue documents for immigrants, to
find a job, a kindergarten, a school. But we coped,
slowly adjusting our lives.

As it turns out later, these were the brightest
eight years of our life in Kharkiv. On Feb. 24, our
peaceful life there ended.

I still remember how a peaceful city woke up
at 4:30 in the morning from explosions and the
roar of shells, tanks passing through the streets.

I had deja vu. My family and I had run away from
the war in 2014, but it turned out that the war was
chasing us.

This is a terrible word: war. It does not even fit
in my head that this is possible in the 21st century.

We tried to survive inhuman conditions: without
water and heating, without vegetables and fruit.

Stores closed, public transport stopped running in
the city, and in a panic people bought all the food
and medicines in pharmacies.

We decided that the safest place in our house is
the hallway, so our whole life was spent there. We
slept there, ate there, Alla played there. In order
not to completely disrupt our child’s psyche, we
put headphones over her ears, so she could not
hear the explosions outside.

Everyone texted each other: How are you? And
we looked forward to an answer, any answer,
because this was a guarantee that the recipient
was alive.

Many people simply lived in the subway. Many
were in cellars. We didn’t go outside for a month.

You didn’t know when the shelling will start. All
you could hear from friends is that their house was
blown up, or the school was hit, and most impor-
tantly, that people were dying, ordinary, peaceful
people who were going to get food or standing in
line for humanitarian aid.

It’s scary, very scary: trembling in the knees,
pain in the stomach and heart. Many people
began to leave. Many others stayed, especially
old people, sick people, those who could not
walk. The other teachers and I organized our own
volunteer headquarters, to help our families who
remained in Kharkiv.

That is how we lived until March 26, when my
husband said: You must leave the war zone; you
have 15 minutes to pack. It was the most difficult
decision of my life, because it is forbidden for men
to leave Ukraine.

Our train from Kharkiv to Lviv, as it turned out
later, was the last evacuation train from our city.

My husband, who is 51, just stood there and
cried. I always thought that he did not know how
to cry at all. The moment when the train started
moving and began to pick up speed especially
hit us all. He was standing there, and I was on the
train with the baby.

It turned out that my whole life could fit in a
backpack. It feels like a dream, that now I will
wake up, and everything will be fine, as before.

After 17 hours on the train, you don’t feel your legs
and arms any more.

And from outside we hear sirens, sirens. Kyiv is
being bombed, Lviv is being bombed. We arrive
in Lviv at midnight to learn that all the free buses
leave at 9 a.m. There is a curfew. We need to
go further. We buy a ticket to Warsaw and wait
12 hours at the border. The phone is constantly
ringing: “How are you?” “When are you coming?”
“Let us know.”
In Warsaw, we were met by
wonderful guys from the Masorti
community. We were fed, given
an overnight stay and tickets
to Berlin. We finally felt a com-
plete sense of security when we
reached Frankfurt on Oder, at
the border with Poland.

On the second day after we
arrived, our children went to
school — the Masorti Jewish
school. It was a real holiday.

In Kharkiv the children did not
even go out into the street;
there was no talk of education.

Here, everyone — absolutely
everyone — tried to help us, in
word, deed, advice, food, toys.

Because we hadn’t taken anything with us. We
even forgot our toothbrushes.

What we dream of — probably like everyone
else — is that the war ends quickly. I want to see
and hug my husband, wipe away his tears and say
everything will be fine: We are all alive. JE
Tanya Borodina is a mother and Hebrew teacher
from Kharkiv, Ukraine.

letters The Left Hijacks the Holocaust
In response to Solomon Stevens’ op-ed (“The
Holocaust Is Not a Metaphor,” April 7), what is
a glaring omission is his outrage at the left for
describing anyone/everyone they disagree with
(on the right) as Nazis, fascists and/or white
supremacists. Isn’t that also a “deplorable use of the
Holocaust” and “an insult to all the Jews slaugh-
tered as well”? As a reference, every Republican
candidate for president has been depicted as a
Nazi/Hitler going back to 1968 (Nixon). There are
pictures to prove it. It’s too late: The left hijacked
the Holocaust for political purposes a long time
ago. JE
Henry Steinberger, Warrington
Letters should be related to articles that have run in the print or
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prior to publication. Please include your first and last name, as
well your town/neighborhood of residence. Send letters to
letters@jewishexponent.com. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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