The administration of President Biden is making preparation for restarting “Remain in Mexico” – the border policy from the era of Trump. A senior official in the administration revealed the information.
“Remain In Mexico” Has Harsh Critics
The “Remain in Mexico” forces migrants who are not Mexicans to remain in Mexican lands, until their court dates for immigration in the United States arrive. When President Biden took charge, the border policy was suspended. A few months later, it was formally terminated.
However, in August, a Texas federal judge said that Biden’s administration was in violation of federal law. The method chosen to bring an end to the “Remain in Mexico” policy was illegal. Thus, the judge had ordered the policy to be restored.
Following the ruling, the US and Mexico have been in conversation over the revival of the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy. The Homeland Security Department also revealed a 2nd memo in which the policy stood terminated. However, it cannot go into effect until the order from the court is lifted.
Consequently, the policy (officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols) is being prepared to restart on a smaller scale. Individuals who are supposed to be sent back to Mexico shall be given two choices of being administered the vaccine for Covid-19. Axios had first reported the expected timeline for restarting this policy.
A spokesperson from Homeland Security said that, as stated in the past, court orders require them to restart MPP. As such, with that in mind, they are working on restarting MPP as soon as possible. However, it cannot be done until the Mexican Government gives their independent agreement to accept those who will be sent back under MPP. The exact timing of the restart will be given to the public and the court when they can do so.