Officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, the “Remain in Mexico” program has kept many asylum seekers in border cities and tent camps near the U.S.-Mexican border while they wait for their immigration court dates in the U.S. The policy has been criticized as endangering the asylum seekers by forcing them to face both possible violence and lack of sanitary conditions, especially in the tent camps. Particularly vulnerable individuals, like pregnant women and some LGBTQ people, are not supposed to be part of the program, yet there have been reports of both pregnant women and transgender individuals being returned to Mexico where they are unsafe. Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan defended the program saying now the “loophole” of bringing a child to get into the U.S. has been closed, and that having families remain in Mexico is the administration’s alternative to detaining them for the whole duration of their case (which is prohibited by the Flores Agreement). Acting Director of USCIS Ken Cuccinelli argued that the policy “achieved” the goal of stopping “catch and release.”
Top DHS officials defended the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
- 1 min read
Related Posts
Asylum hearings are postponed through June 1
On April 30, the Trump administration postponed immigration court hearings for asylum seekers waiting in Mexico under the “Remain in Mexico” policy. Asylum seekers with hearings scheduled…
Central American asylum seekers sent to Mexico are becoming victims of kidnappings.
Under the Remain in Mexico program, asylum seekers are sent to Mexico for the duration of their cases. These asylum seekers are increasingly becoming victims of…
A federal judge ruled that asylum seekers at the U.S. border before mid-July are not subject to the asylum limits that were implemented after.
The Trump administration issued a rule in mid-July that required asylum seekers who traveled through other countries on the way to the U.S. border to…
The first bus of asylum seekers detained in Arizona has been sent across the Texas-Mexico border.
The Trump administration has been using the Remain in Mexico program to send non-Mexican asylum seekers to Mexico for as long as months to wait…
Asylum Officers Union and Former U.S. Officials File Amicus Briefs Condemning Remain in Mexico Policy
Two amicus briefs were filed yesterday in Innovation Law Lab v. McAleenan, a case challenging the administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPPs), commonly known as the Remain in…