Press Release
Published on May 19, 2026
Washington D.C. – Yesterday, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) weaponized a decades-old public health authority, Title 42, to suspend the entry of certain noncitizens for at least 30 days in response to the World Health Organization’s declaration of a public health emergency related to Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The CDC order targets people without U.S. citizenship or permanent residency who have recently departed from or were present in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan. Effective public health policy is based on evidence and risk management, not nationality or immigration status, and a reasonable response would not punish or paint immigrants as vectors of disease.
The U.S. government previously invoked Title 42 as a basis to evade due process and U.S. immigration and asylum law, purportedly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As medical and public health experts repeatedly affirmed, the Title 42 policy had no basis in science, decrying it as “nothing more than a politically expedient measure that exploits the COVID-19 pandemic to expel or block from the country people seeking asylum.” In its May 16 advice to states, the WHO specifically explains that: “No country should close its borders or place any restrictions on travel and trade. Such measures are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science.”
“As the Trump administration continues to target immigrant communities on an unprecedented scale, this is yet another discriminatory attempt to scapegoat immigrants as carriers of disease,” said Robyn Barnard, Senior Director of Advocacy, Refugee and Immigrant Rights. “Previous U.S. government responses to Ebola outbreaks have involved measures far short of broad travel bans and the World Health Organization has advised any travel related restrictions are based on fear and not backed by science. If the Trump administration is serious about countering the spread of Ebola, the U.S. government should restore health-related humanitarian funding it gutted across Africa, designate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan, and halt all deportation flights to the region—including flights involving Latin Americans and other third country nationals—until the WHO announces an end to the public health emergency.”
Human Rights First monitored the devastating impact of the Title 42 policy while it was in effect from 2020 to 2023, documenting 13,000 reports of murder, torture, kidnapping, rape, and other violent attacks on asylum seekers and other migrants who were blocked in or expelled to Mexico under the policy. While the policy was in effect, a federal court held that it was unlawful. Today’s order follows the Trump administration’s racist travel bans and discriminatory visa restrictions that overwhelmingly target African and Muslim-majority countries, as well as actions to end Temporary Protected Status for nationals of multiple African countries—including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan—as well as Haiti and other countries.
Human Rights First’s ICE Flight Monitor documented five U.S. deportation flights to the Democratic Republic of Congo since January 2025, including an April 17, 2026 flight carrying 15 Latin Americans who had been granted protections from U.S. immigration judges. ICE Flight Monitor also documented a flight sending eight non-Ugandan asylum seekers to Uganda under the so-called the Asylum Cooperative Agreement on April 2, 2026, and a flight of third country nationals last year to South Sudan.
