Biden’s administration recently planned to reinstate Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers crossing the U.S. border at its southern border to wait in Mexico while their cases are being heard.
A spokesperson for the Migrant Protection Protocols said they are complying with the court order and working to reimplement the MPP as quickly as possible. We can’t do this until we have an independent agreement from Mexico for the acceptance of those who want to be enrolled in MPP.
Trump’s administration recently established Remain in Mexico and allowed migrants to return to Mexico in order to be heard for asylum.
Two government officials spoke with Axios to say that adult migrants who have been reinstated under the policy will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The Department of Homeland Security stated that it was ready to reinstate MPP in mid-November as a response to a Supreme Court order. DHS is still trying to eliminate the program using a different method.
The policy’s proponents claimed that it was an effective program that prevented illegal immigrants from entering the country. It also reduced the “pull factors,” which attract other migrants. Critics attacked it as cruel and dangerous, claiming that it put migrants at risk of violence and forced them to live in miserable conditions.
In response to a lawsuit filed by Texas and Missouri, a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to “enforce” and implement the policy. This was in response to the Biden administration’s attempt at terminating it.
After Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas put the program on hold back in June, the secretary claimed that the policy did not “adequately and sustainably improve border management in such way as to justify its extensive operational burdens and other deficiencies.
