Mexico rejects attempts to reinstate ‘stay in Mexico’ policy for asylum seekers
Mexico’s foreign ministry said Monday it rejects any effort to reimplement the controversial Trump-era policy known as “staying in Mexico” for asylum seekers.
The policy, officially named “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP), requires that some asylum seekers be returned to Mexico during the immigration process.
In December, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk halted the Biden administration’s latest attempt to end the program while a legal challenge, launched by Texas and Missouri seeking to force his reinstatement, is heard in court. .
In a statement, the Foreign Office said that after the judge issued the suspension, US authorities informed them of their intention to restart the program.
“With regard to the possible implementation of this policy for the third time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the Mexican government, expresses its rejection of the intention of the United States government to return to Mexico those treated in the part of the program,” the statement said.
In this Dec. 26, 2022, file photo, asylum seekers line up to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents at a breach in the U.S.-Mexico border fence near Somerton, Arizona.
Rebecca Noble/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration had the legal authority to end the program, but it remanded the decision on whether the original memo detailing the end of the program complied with the administrative law in the court of Judge Kacsmaryk.
“Stay in Mexico” was first developed and implemented by the Trump administration in 2019 and billed as a deterrent to pre-empt invalid asylum claims. The protocols have only been applied to a small fraction of all cross-border commuters, undermining claims of effectiveness of the MPP.
In this August 30, 2022 file photo, two migrants interact with a stray cat as they wait with other migrants at the Senda de Vida shelter in Reynosa, Mexico.
Michael Nigro/Getty Images, FILE
Human rights defenders say they have documented cases of kidnapping, extortion and rape in areas where people subject to the MPP are sent. US border officials and independent researchers note the considerable influence of criminal organizations along the border.
“Most of the victims said they were targeted because they were migrants,” Human Rights Watch said in a March 2021 report focused on those stranded in northern Mexico. “The attackers often identified their victims by inspecting their identity and court documents.”
Biden campaigned on a promise to end the program, which he called “inhumane.”
“Donald Trump’s ‘Stay in Mexico’ policy is dangerous, inhumane and goes against everything we stand for as a nation of immigrants. My administration will end it,” Biden said in a March tweet. 2020.
After the Mexican government’s statement was released, former Department of Homeland Security general counsel Tom Jawetz argued that DHS was not obligated to reimplement the MPP because of the court ruling. supreme of 2022.
“The Supreme Court was very clear that Congress gave the Secretary discretion to CHOOSE whether to use the authority to return to contiguous territory at INA 235(b)(2)(C) and the lower courts were wrong to twist the text of the law to compel the administrator to use it,” he tweeted.
In this file photo from December 15, 2022, a migrant listens to his phone near his tent at the sprawling Senda de Vida 2 open-air shelter in Reynosa, Mexico. The shelter, the second founded by an evangelical pastor in this border town, houses 3,000 migrants from Haiti, Central and South America in tents pitched on rough concrete or gravel, providing only the most essential care but the security of the cartels that prey on migrants who have gone abroad.
Giovanna Dell’orto/AP, FILE
A DHS spokesperson told ABC News it will continue to fight re-enforcement of the MPP in court.
“We have consistently sought to end the MPP and have taken this fight all the way to the Supreme Court. We will continue to litigate in court. Our ability to implement the MPP pursuant to a court order has always been contingent upon the willingness of the Mexican government to accept returns under the MPP,” the spokesperson said.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said about 74,000 migrants were returned to Mexico under the program under the Trump administration, while about 7,500 went through the program under Biden.
In the statement, Mexico reiterated its support for the new “humane” pathways the United States has established for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Ukraine and Venezuela to enter its workforce. work.
ABC News
