The Biden administration will resume the “Remain in Mexico” policy next week after reaching an agreement with the Mexican government, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Following the Government of Mexico’s independent decision to accept individuals returned pursuant to MPP, the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice will work out final operational details and begin the court-ordered re-implementation of the program on or around Monday, Dec.6,” DHS said in a statement. The agreement was first reported by the Washington Post.
The policy, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols and implemented in 2019, requires asylum seekers attempting to enter the US by crossing the southern border to wait in Mexico until their cases are heard.
The new policy iteration will be enforced at seven ports of entry — San Diego and Calexico in California; Nogales in Arizona; and El Paso, Eagle Pass, Laredo, and Brownsville in Texas. One official told the Washington Post that temporary “tent courts” have been under construction in Brownsville and Laredo but will likely not be ready to hold asylum hearings until next week.
One official told the outlet that the renewed version of “Remain in Mexico” will be “fairly close to the previous version.”
One change is the offering of COVID-19 vaccines to all eligible migrants, as well as a vaccination requirement to re-enter the US. It is unclear at what point in the asylum process the jabs would be given. The Biden administration reportedly still plans to use its Title 42 health authority to rapidly expel illegal border crossers.
Other changes include a commitment by DHS to complete proceedings within six months of an individual’s return to Mexico as well as providing opportunities to secure legal counsel “before and during non-refoulement interview and immigration court hearings.”
The US plans to use the program for single adults rather than unaccompanied minors or those with a criminal history or who are wanted by the US or Mexico. As part of the new agreement, Mexico will take in asylum claimants from countries in the Western Hemisphere, but will limit the numbers coming from non-Spanish-speaking countries.
President Biden initially suspended the “Remain in Mexico” policy hours after taking office in January. At the beginning of June, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memo formally winding up the protocols.
In August, however, Texas US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled the administration must make a “good faith” effort to reinstate the policy and enforce it until it had been properly rescinded and immigration officials had enough space to hold all detained illegal immigrants.
The Biden administration tried to end the program again last month, while acknowledging the policy “likely contributed to reduced migratory flows.”
Mayorkas has said DHS will comply with Kacsmaryk’s ruling, but noted in a memo that his department sees “inherent problems with the program that no amount of resources can sufficiently fix.”
During Thursday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated the administration’s view that the program is “deeply flawed” and DHS is merely “abiding by a court ruling” rather than changing their policy.
“There are some key changes and exemptions the Department of Homeland Security announced this morning and could speak to, but our view of the program has not changed. We’re working to implement [it] under the court order,” she said.
According to DHS, the new policy will remain in place until the injunction issued by Kacsmaryk is terminated.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning, former President Donald Trump said he felt no vindication at the reinstatement of the policy.
“No, because I want to see good for the country, Brian. It’s so important to me. I want to see good for the country,” Trump told co-host Brian Kilmeade. “There’s no gratification. What they’re doing is destroying our country. Our country is being destroyed before your very eyes, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Trump slammed Biden’s immigration policies as “a disaster.”
“We have millions of people flowing across, and we’re not even talking about the China virus or COVID, whatever you want to call it. We’re talking about many other diseases coming over the border, that are far worse, coming over the border,” he said. “Nobody’s being tested, nobody’s being checked. Prisoners of other countries are being dumped in our country. We’re like a dumping ground.”
