On Wednesday, January 5th, the United States government started to return Mexican immigrants to the city of Tijuana. The lawsuit is a return to Donald Trump's program that forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for US court hearings. The two countries agreed last month to relaunch the controversial scheme known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), under a US federal court order, or Remain in Mexico.

In early December, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported they are concerned with the re-implementation of the MPP on the southern border of the United States with Mexico because it “could put the safety and wellbeing of asylum-seeking children and their families at risk”.

They warned that “following the initial implementation of MPP in January 2019, more than 70,000 asylum seekers were forced to return to Mexico until U.S. immigration courts could resolve their cases. Those subject to MPP, including many children and adolescents, waited for months in shelters and makeshift camps in Mexico without access to appropriate housing, hygiene, nutrition and essential services”. Follow our analysis of December 8th (http://latinoobservatory.org/noticia.php?lang=en&ID=46)

According to publication of the “Voice of America” (VOA), “the program first resumed in December at the international crossing connecting El Paso, Texas, to Ciudad Juarez. More than 200 people have been returned to Mexico so far under the relaunch of MPP, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM)”.

“The United Nations’ refugee agency and advocacy groups have criticized the restart of the Trump-era policy, warning migrants face the risk of kidnapping, rape and extortion in dangerous Mexican border towns. Under the original 2019 program, some 70,000 migrants seeking asylum were forced to wait weeks and sometimes years in Mexico for a U.S. court date instead of being allowed to await their hearings in the United States”, according to the publication. 

The reinstatement of the “Migrant Protection Protocols” was ordered by a federal judge, despite Biden's attempt to create a different, "more humane" approach to immigration since he took office as President of the United States.