The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decided on Monday, August 8, that it will take the next steps to quickly end the Donald Trump administration's “Remain in Mexico” program. In this way, asylum seekers will no longer be sent back to the border to await a decision.

According to the Latino Rebels, the timing of the policy's closure was uncertain, as “the DHS officials had been largely silent, saying they had to wait for the court to certify the ruling and for a Trump-appointed judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, to then lift his injunction”. The announcement came after U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk lifted his injunction blocking Biden officials from ending the program, formally known as the “Migrant Protection Protocols” or MPP.

As previously reported, the US Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that the Biden administration had the authority to terminate the program, paving the way for DHS finally ending one of the Trump administration's most controversial border measures.

DHS officials said asylum seekers waiting in Mexico for their appointments in the U.S. immigration court would be allowed to cross the border on the day of their hearings and stay in the United States while awaiting an outcome. 

In a statement from the DHS, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that “MPP has endemic flaws, imposes unjustifiable human costs, and pulls resources and personnel away from other priority efforts to secure our border”.

In that context, Homeland Security said in a statement that the program will be unwound in a “quick and orderly manner”. He further states that no more people are being enrolled and those who appear in court will not be returned to Mexico when they appear in the U.S. for their next hearings.

According to the Latino Rebels, “many questions remain, including whether those whose claims have been denied or dismissed will get a second chance or if those whose next court dates are months away will be allowed to return to the U.S. sooner. Homeland Security said it will provide additional information ‘in the coming days’.”

“President Biden quickly ended the program after taking office, but Kacsmaryk last fall sided with several Republican-led state officials who sued the administration to force a restart of MPP. Between December 2021 and early July, about 5,800 asylum seekers were sent back to Mexico to await their U.S. court dates, the latest DHS records show. Most were adults from Nicaragua and Venezuela. Under President Donald Trump, his administration used MPP much more aggressively, sending nearly 70,000 back to Mexico after negotiating the program with Mexican authorities and implementing it in late 2018. Trump officials said the returns were necessary to prevent migrants from using the U.S. asylum system to avoid detention and deportation”, as pointed out by The Washington Post.

Asylum seekers with pending claims are typically allowed to live and work in the United States while awaiting a response. The process can drag out for several years because U.S. immigration courts are swamped by backlogs.

Also according to “The Post”, MPP was reviled by immigration advocates who reported documented assaults, kidnappings and other crimes against asylum seekers returned to dangerous Mexican border cities or stranded in a notorious tent camp along the Rio Grande.

In its 5-4 Court decision in favor of Biden administration, the Supreme Court ruled that Kacsmaryk went too far in demanding that Biden maintain policies that infringe on his ability to enforce immigration laws and shape foreign policy, since the MPP was based on agreements with Mexico.