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?
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.
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.
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."