Thu, 30 Jun 22 15:34:53 +0000

How today's Supreme Court decision can change things at the border

In a decision of

5-4, the judge found that immigration law gave the Biden administration the discretion to end the "stay in Mexico" policy. did. While their immigration case is pending.

The case will return to the lower court for additional proceedings, but the Supreme Court's ruling has brought Biden one step closer to the end of the program.

Here are some important questions about the policy and what could happen next.

What is the impact of the Supreme Court's decision?

Biden's bid hold to end the program remains valid, but Thursday's ruling suggested that the lower court's order should be lifted soon.

This will allow the Biden administration to roll back the "Stay in Mexico" program. This was the first attempt by authorities in 2021 before a federal court ruling blocked their efforts months later. This means that thousands of immigrants currently waiting in Mexico as part of the program could be released to the United States on parole to proceed with the immigration case here.

Last year, prior to a lower court order, the Biden administration introduced a process that would gradually allow policy-targeted immigrants to enter the United States until an immigration case was decided. Immigrants were released to the United States or detained during immigration proceedings prior to the unprecedented "stay in Mexico" policy.

When was this policy enforced and why?

The Trump administration officially implemented a program called the "Immigration Protection Protocol" or MPP in January 2019. The program sent certain non-Mexican immigrants who entered the United States back to Mexico. Detain them or release them to the United States-while their immigration procedures are in progress.

Authorities said they would prevent migrants from using immigration systems while remaining secure.

However, immigration advocates say that having asylum seekers wait in Mexico while they pass through US courts actually puts vulnerable people in a more dangerous situation. Insist.

What has happened since then?

As of February 2021, the advocacy group Human Rights First had more than 1,500 murders, rapes, tortures, kidnappings and other violent attacks affecting forced immigrants. He said he recorded the incident. Wait in Mexico as part of the program.

"Important evidence is that individuals have been subjected to extreme violence by the hands of cross-border criminal organizations that have benefited from harming immigrants while waiting for a court hearing in Mexico. It shows that he was exposed to anxiety, "said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas. An October note detailing his decision to end the program at

Number of people enrolled in the program.

Between January 2019 and June 2021, approximately 68,000 migrants were dispatched to wait in Mexico as part of the program.

Of the group, more than 32,000 were ordered to be removed, nearly 9,000 closed the case, and only 723 were asylum or other types of migrants, according to a government analysis by the Migration Policy Institute. Some of the migrants who were given reliefstatisticsmay have abandoned the case and returned to their home countries, the Institute said.

Immediately after President Biden took office, the Department of Homeland Security suspended new enrollment in the program and gradually allowed asylum seekers previously covered by the program to enter the United States. It was started.

In June 2021,the Biden administration announced the official termination of the program, and by August, authorities had 13,000 immigrants returning to the United States to pursue their proceedings. MPI said it allowed it to do so.

A federal judge's decision in August 2021found that authorities did not follow proper administrative procedures and blocked administrative efforts to terminate the program. did.

The ruling forced the Biden administration to resume the program in December. The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 5,000 migrants enrolled in the program since then are currently waiting in Mexico.

Why did the Biden administration try to end it?

Mayorkas said that continuing the program put pressure on resources and disrupted diplomacy with Mexico.

"The program has its own problems and cannot fix enough resources," Mallorcus wrote.

He acknowledged that this program could reduce the number of people crossing the border.

"But it did so by imposing substantive and unreasonable human costs on the victims while waiting in Mexico," he added.

He said the administration "is working on two goals: to secure our borders and to protect those who escape persecution and torture."

And he said the program was "neither the best strategy nor the preferred strategy to achieve any of these goals."

Is this the same as title 42?

No. The two policies are often discussed together because they affect the authority that authorities have when they encounter them. Immigrants on the US-Mexico border. However, "Stay in Mexico" is separate from the public health authoritiesknown as Title 42, and border authorities can seek asylum because they can turn back migrants encountered at the border. You can not.

"Staying in Mexico" still gave immigrants the opportunity to seek asylum in the United States. (Title 42 is subject to individual legal opposition. A federal judge has temporarily blocked Biden from terminating its authority)