The Biden administration announced on Thursday that the United States and Mexican governments have reached an agreement on re-establishing President Donald J. Trump’s signature immigration policy — the Migrant Protection Protocols — most well-known as the “Remain in Mexico” deal.
Last week, The Daily Wire reported that the Department of Homeland Security announced they would comply with a federal court order that demanded the U.S. re-engage in the Remain in Mexico agreement created under President Trump’s administration.
“In compliance with the court order, we are working to reimplement MPP as promptly as possible,” DHS spokesperson Marsha Espinosa said last week. “We cannot do so until we have the independent agreement from the Government of Mexico to accept those we seek to enroll in MPP. We will communicate to the court, and to the public, the timing of reimplementation when we are prepared to do so.”
The Daily Wire reported that “U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled back in August that the Biden administration had not given ample reason for terminating the policy. The administration later appealed the decision at the Supreme Court and were again denied in their attempts to undue it.”
On Thursday, Fox News reported that DHS released the following statement:
“As required by a federal court order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been working in good faith to re-implement the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “Today, in coordination with the Departments of State and Justice, DHS announced key changes to MPP to address humanitarian concerns raised by the Government of Mexico and shared by the U.S. Government.”
The Remain in Mexico policy was a “U.S. Government action whereby certain foreign individuals entering or seeking admission to the U.S. from Mexico – illegally or without proper documentation – may be returned to Mexico and wait outside of the U.S. for the duration of their immigration proceedings, where Mexico will provide them with all appropriate humanitarian protections for the duration of their stay,” according to DHS.
The purpose of the policy was to cut down on illegal aliens who were defrauding the asylum system and to weaken ‘coyotes’ — human smugglers’ — ability to guarantee passage into the U.S. Prior to the policy, asylum seekers were allowed to reside in the U.S. and trusted to show up for their court hearings to determine the validity of their cases and requests for residence in America.
In 2019, Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan testified before the Senate that in some cases nearly 90% of asylum seekers failed to show up for the designated court date.
Remain in Mexico was created and quickly became “one of the most important and effective tools we have implemented to confront the crisis,” according to former DHS spokeswoman Heather Swift.
Fox News noted that “The Biden administration is now working to end the policy in a way that would not be subject to legal challenge — including having conducted a full review of the effects of ending the program — but in the meantime is re-implementing the policy. ”