Ruling lifts hope at border
President Joe Biden has all the authority he needs to terminate his predecessor’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. That policy had stranded thousands of asylum-seekers in Mexico awaiting results of their applications.
Biden moved to end the policy in 2021 and resume allowing those seeking asylum to remain in the United States while their cases progressed, as has been the custom for decades. Texas and Missouri sued to stop him and rulings by a North Texas district court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put Biden’s plans on hold.
Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a 5-4 majority, ruled Thursday that Biden’s critics were wrong. Every president going back to Bill Clinton has released those with credible claims into the United States while their cases are heard in immigration courts, he said.
This decision is a victory for the humane treatment of people fleeing crises at home. It is a victory, however, that returns responsibility to the Biden administration. The federal government must address the underlying challenges at the border, ones that go well beyond asylum-related issues. Hundreds of thousands of migrants are seeking entry to the United States, and neither the president nor the Congress have been able to meaningfully deal with that reality.
Still, the ruling Thursday is most welcome. Though officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, the policy had nothing to do with “protection.” Its first iteration was linked to at least 10,250 reports of murder, kidnapping, rape, torture and other violent attacks on asylum-seekers and other migrants often left stranded in border towns the State Department adamantly warns you shouldn’t visit. We have been deeply troubled by the program’s cruelty since it began in 2019.
For those asylum-seekers whose claims are deemed credible and who are released in the United States they still face years of court hearings. Only 15 percent to 20 percent have typically been granted asylum.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council told the board the MPP policy had been “a farce” from the start by presenting countless bureaucratic and securityrelated obstacles. Less than 3 percent of those in the program are being granted asylum, he said.
Ending the program can be done in an orderly, humane way. During the initial wind-down attempt, the Biden administration worked with partners to successfully bring 13,000 migrants legally into the country to await their court hearings. Evidence shows that most migrants do show for court hearings, especially asylum-seekers and those represented by lawyers.
Indeed, the 33,500 Ukrainian refugee cases efficiently and humanely processed since April show that where there’s political will, there’s a way.
While this ruling will help migrants with legitimate asylum claims, it does nothing to address the nation’s broader immigration challenges.
Migrants, including those asking for asylum, will seek ever more extreme routes into the country — a win for smugglers who can cash in at up to $25,000 a pop.
If we’ve learned anything from the discovery of 53 migrants whose last breaths were in a cramped tractortrailer in San Antonio, it’s that tragedies like this will only increase if we double down on “stick” solutions to immigration without offering a better carrot.
More legal pathways, such as seasonal farm-worker programs, could benefit migrants and industries alike, while draining criminal networks’ cash flow. If Biden can’t find solutions, another president may use their discretion to put asylum-seekers back in the tent camps.