“Remain in Mexico” asylum policy is revived

“Remain in Mexico” asylum policy is revived

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A month ago, in August 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration likely violated federal law in its efforts to rescind the Remain in Mexico program.

One of the first actions taken by President Biden related to immigration in January of this year was requesting the end of the aforementioned program.

Remain in Mexico was a policy dictated by Trump’s administration, which required asylum-seekers that tried to enter the U.S. from the southern border to wait in Mexico for their court hearings.

“The program has led to roughly 60,000 migrants getting sent back across the border since MPP was first implemented in January 2019. Tens of thousands of people are still stuck in Mexico, awaiting their court hearings, and living in unsanitary and potentially dangerous situations. The policy has placed enormous strain on Mexico, even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic”, NRP explained back in January.

Biden’s goal was to instate a more flexible approach to immigration, especially that from Latin Americans.

Remain in Mexico is reinstated

According to information published by Market Watch, “with the three liberal justices in dissent, the court said the administration likely violated federal law in its efforts to rescind the program informally known as Remain in Mexico.”

They also say that it is not yet clear how many people will be affected by this decision. Also, they wrote that by forcing asylum-seekers to wait for a decision on their case in Mexico puts them in danger when they are seeking protection in the United States.

“The judge, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, ordered that the program be reinstated in response to a lawsuit filed by the states of Texas and Missouri, whose governors have been seeking to reinstate some of the hard-line anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration,” Market Watch wrote.

The Biden administration, on their part, argued that the policy had been dormant for more than a year and reinstating abruptly “would prejudice the United States’ relations with vital regional partners, severely disrupt its operations at the southern border, and threaten to create a diplomatic and humanitarian crisis.”

Ex-President Trump’s administration had stopped using the policy at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Instead, they were rejecting almost everyone on the Southwest border under a public health order that remains in effect.

If you have any questions about your immigration process, don’t hesitate to contact an immigration attorney in San Diego, California, today. Kannan Law is available to discuss your case!