SCOTUS - Biden can end “Remain in Mexico” policy

Post Reply New Topic

The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Biden administration can end a Trump-era immigration policy known as "Remain in Mexico" that had forced thousands of asylum seekers to wait south of the border while their claims were adjudicated.

The court ruled 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the three liberal justices in the majority.

Officially termed the "Migrant Protection Protocols" -- or MPP -- the policy was created in 2019 to send unauthorized immigrants, including asylum seekers, back to Mexico while their cases are processed in immigration court.

Trump administration officials intended the policy to serve as a deterrent against flows of migrants along the southwest border. Human rights observers and immigrant advocacy organizations said the policy contravened international law, putting vulnerable people at risk of higher documented rates of kidnapping, extortion and violence in the areas they were forced to wait.

President Biden attempted to formally end the MPP last year but was sued by Republican-led states Texas and Missouri, which alleged the Immigration and Naturalization Act required the administration to continue the program. A federal court ordered the policy to continue as legal challenges played out.

Congress has never allocated sufficient resources to fulfill the law's requirement of detaining all migrants and asylum seekers pending an immigration hearing; every administration has had to exercise some level of discretion in enforcement.

The Biden administration argued that the MPP required costly and complicated negotiations with Mexico and that foreign policy authority rests solely with the president - not the states or federal courts.