(Trends Wide) — The Joe Biden administration is trying for the second time to end former President Donald Trump’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy, after it was thwarted earlier this year by a federal judge.
The policy required non-Mexican migrants to remain in Mexico until their appointment with the immigration court in the United States. It was suspended early in Biden’s term and formally terminated months later. However, in August, a federal judge in Texas declared that the Biden administration had violated federal law in the way it disposed of the program and demanded its reinstatement.
The Department of Homeland Security published a new memorandum on Friday justifying its desire to end the policy, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).
The effects of “Remain in Mexico”
“The MPP had endemic flaws, imposed unjustifiable human costs, subtracted resources and personnel from other priority efforts, and failed to address the root causes of irregular migration,” National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “The MPP not only undermines the Administration’s ability to implement critically necessary and fundamental changes to the immigration system, but it fails to provide the fair process and humanitarian protections that individuals deserve under the law.”
Under President Donald Trump, migrants from Central America and other parts of the world seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border were forced to remain in Mexico until their US immigration court hearings, often in dangerous cities. . This was an unprecedented departure from previous protocols, which allowed migrants to enter while they underwent their immigration hearings in the United States.
An estimated 68,000 migrants were returned to Mexico under this policy, according to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). For those who submitted to politics, that meant waiting months, if not years, in miserable conditions and under the threat of extortion, sexual assault and kidnapping.
Allied Reviews
The Biden administration has faced strong criticism from its own allies for keeping some of Trump’s immigration limits in place. After further review of the “Remain in Mexico” policy, DHS found that while it may have led to a reduction in border crossings, the humanitarian costs justify its termination.
“It goes much deeper into the decision-making and the reasoning behind it,” a National Security official told reporters, referring to the new memorandum. “It directly addresses some of the alleged failures of the above memorandum, as well as the alleged costs to states and the alleged concerns about the implications of the termination. [de los MPP]”.
The future of the program has been a point of contention between the US and Mexico, according to officials, specifically to ensure that cases are heard in a timely manner, that migrants have access to an attorney, and to establish criteria for those who do not. are subject to politics.
Measures against covid-19
DHS previously said it is updating policies and procedures to account for COVID-19 and preparing contracts to rebuild immigration hearing facilities that came under intense scrutiny during the Trump administration. According to another Homeland Security official, the administration is considering vaccinating and screening migrants subject to the COVID-19 program, as well as assessing whether there are shelters where people can safely stay until their court date.
The government also sent notices to legal service providers to be included in a pro bono list that will be distributed to migrants enrolled in the “Remain in Mexico” program, according to an email obtained by Trends Wide.
Still, immigrant advocates and lawyers say they are not interested in associating with a policy they condemned under the Trump administration. Elissa Steglich, who co-directs and teaches the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin, cited the challenges in representing waiting migrants in Mexico and the host of concerns about due process and security.
“We cannot support participation in a list that makes it appear that the program promises access to an attorney,” Steglich said.
