The end of a flagship measure of Donald Trump’s policy. Asylum seekers will no longer be sent back to Mexico while their cases are being considered by the courts. The US Department of Homeland Security announced Monday evening to end the immigration decree adopted by the former president.
The announcement came hours after a judge lifted an injunction that prevented US President Joe Biden’s administration from repealing the “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPPs), a measure dubbed “Remain in Mexico” (Remain in Mexico City).
Highly criticized by civil rights associations, “Staying in Mexico” was implemented in 2019, under the presidency of Donald Trump, who had made the fight against illegal immigration one of the markers of his policy. The measure will be abolished “in a speedy and orderly manner,” the ministry wrote in a statement.
Cancellation of the migration decree
The “PPMs have endemic flaws, impose unjustifiable human costs and divert resources and personnel from other priority efforts aimed at securing our border”, justified the ministry.
Shortly after taking office, Joe Biden tried to put an end to it for a more humane approach to immigration. But states governed by Republicans, including Texas, had challenged the decision in court and won their case. The government then reworked the project and seized the Supreme Court which, on June 30, finally validated the cancellation of the immigration decree by the administration of Joe Biden.
70,000 people returned to Mexico since 2019
Since the policy began in January 2019 until its initial suspension under Biden, at least 70,000 people have been deported to Mexico, according to the American Immigration Council.
During Biden’s tenure, more than 200,000 people trying to enter the country illegally were stopped at the border every month and turned back, either under the PPM or under a separate policy, related to the Covid pandemic. -19, blocking people at the border.