President Biden’s administration to halt ‘Remain in Mexico’ program

The Biden administration will halt the use of a Trumpera policy that forced migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico, after a Supreme Court ruling said the government could unwind the program, according to two U.S. officials.

The administration’s action follows a federal judge’s ruling to vacate his previous decision to restart the policy.

“Remain in Mexico,” formally known as the Migration Protection Protocols Policy, or MPP, forced back more than 60,000 asylumseekers during the Trump administration, as part of an effort to deter migration at the southern border. Many immigrants faced rape, kidnapping and murder while they languished in Mexico, according to advocacy groups.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the move Monday evening.

“Individuals are no longer being newly enrolled into MPP, and individuals currently in MPP in Mexico will be disenrolled when they return for their next scheduled court date,” said Marsha Espinosa, a spokesperson for DHS. “Individuals disenrolled from MPP will continue their removal proceedings in the United States.”

In early 2021, the Biden administration began to undo MPP by allowing thousands of people caught up in the program in Mexico to come to the U.S. In June of that year, DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas issued a memo officially ending the policy.

But in August 2021, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered the government to restart the policy; his order went into effect shortly thereafter. Since then, thousands of migrants have been thrust into the controversial program.

Then, in June, the U.S. Supreme Court said the administration could move forward with its efforts to undo the program. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the majority opinion, finding that the law did not require the government to return asylum-seekers to Mexico.

On Monday, as a result of the Supreme Court decision, Kacsmaryk vacated his ruling.

Mayorkas wrote in an October 2021 memo terminating the program for a second time that while he understood that the policy likely had led to a downturn in arrivals at the border, it should not continue.