Biden Administration Ends Trump-Era 'Remain in Mexico' Policy Requiring Migrants To Wait for Asylum Hearings

The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it was ending a Trump-era policy that required asylum claimants to wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration court, just hours after a judge removed a December order that it be maintained.

Since the Supreme Court declared on June 30 that the Biden administration may stop the "Remain in Mexico" policy, the time has been uncertain.

Homeland Security To Provide More Details About End of Border Policy

Homeland Security officials had mainly remained silent, claiming they needed to wait for the court to confirm the verdict and for a Trump-appointed judge in Amarillo, Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, to withdraw his injunction. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court certified its decision.

Homeland Security stated in a statement that the program would be unraveled quickly and methodically. No more persons are being enrolled, and those who appear in court will not be sent to Mexico when their next hearings are held in the United States. The program has inherent problems, levies unacceptable human costs, and diverts money and manpower away from other critical border security initiatives, according to the government.

Many concerns remain, such as whether individuals whose cases were refused or dismissed would be given another opportunity or if those whose next court appearances are months away will be permitted to return to the United States sooner. Homeland Security stated that further material would be released in the coming days, according to The Independent.

Approximately 70,000 migrants were subject to the program, formally known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), from its inception in January 2019 until President Joe Biden terminated it on his first day in office in January 2021, fulfilling a campaign pledge. During the early months of Biden's administration, many were permitted to return to the United States to prosecute their claims.

From December through June, over 5,800 persons were affected by the policy, which was a small amount. Nicaraguans make up the majority, with others coming from Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela. Trump made the program the focal point of border enforcement, which opponents claimed was brutal since it exposed migrants to horrific violence in Mexico and made access to attorneys significantly more difficult, as per Fox43.

Biden Denounces Migrant Protection Protocols Since 2020 Campaign

According to the Trump administration, MPP discouraged migrants seeking better economic prospects from invoking the asylum system to stay and work in the United States. However, on the 2020 campaign road, Biden criticized the policy as barbaric, and DHS ceased enrolling migrants in the program on his first day in office.

The MPP program was formally abolished in June 2021 by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who said it was ineffectual and put asylum applicants in danger. However, Republican attorneys general from Texas and Missouri filed suit, and Kacsmaryk determined that the administration had terminated the procedures unfairly.

Former President Trump appointee Kacsmaryk compelled the Biden administration to apply the Remain in Mexico procedures in good faith until they were properly terminated and the government built up adequate holding facilities to imprison all migrants subject to the 1996 detention legislation.

In response, Mayorkas published a more detailed letter in October, attempting to eliminate the MPP policy for the second time. However, Kacsmaryk's decision was eventually affirmed by the 5th Circuit, which declined to take Mayorkas' second termination note into account.

Due to the legal challenges, the Biden administration was forced to relaunch Stay in Mexico in December. Although it reformed the program, officials were required to question migrants if they feared persecution in Mexico before transferring them there, providing enrollees with coronavirus vaccines, and exempting certain groups from the policy, including asylum-seekers with severe medical conditions, the elderly, and LGBT members.

Kacsmaryk's now-defunct judgment also compelled the Biden administration to discontinue a program that had previously enabled 13,000 asylum-seekers to remain in the country, CBS News reported.