Former President Donald Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), better known as “Remain in Mexico” policy is set to restart, according to a Biden administration official.
The policy started in December 2018 to keep asylum seekers in Mexico while they awaited immigration court proceedings.
President Joe Biden revoked the policy soon after taking office earlier this year. Biden’s administration has faced pressure ever since to return to the policy. In April, Texas and Missouri sued the Biden administration in an effort to have MPP reinstated over the “influx of crime pouring across our border.”
In response to the lawsuit, a federal judge ruled in August against the Biden administration’s attempt to end the policy, and the Supreme Court subsequently upheld the ruling.
“In compliance with the court order, we are working to reimplement the MPP as promptly as possible,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Marsha Espinosa told Axios.
Espinosa added, “We cannot do so until we have the independent agreement from the Government of Mexico to accept those people (migrants), 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.”
Vice President Kamala Harris met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on November 18, but evidently the two appeared to have neglected MPP, in their discussions.
Between October 2020 and September 2021, border officials encountered over 1.7 million migrants at the southern border.
