Democratic Rep. Escobar Shames Biden for Keeping Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy: ‘It’s Unacceptable’

Democratic Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar took aim at President Joe Biden on Tuesday, calling his decision to retain his predecessor’s “Remain in Mexico” policy a “disappointment.”

“It’s unacceptable,” Escobar said in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who asked her about the policy, which is formally referred to as the Migration Protection Protocols. The Biden administration said Thursday it would revive the program after the Supreme Court opted not to review a lower court’s ruling against the administration’s attempt to revoke it.

Biden had attempted to roll back the program when he took office, after his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, instituted it in 2019. The program allowed the federal government to send about 70,000 migrants who were seeking to claim asylum back to Mexico.

Escobar faulted the administration for seeking to “expand” the program, even as she gave Biden partial credit.

“We know that unfortunately the state of Texas and others have brought a suit against the Biden administration forcing them to reinstate MPP,” Escobar said, “which I think is a complete violation of our laws, a complete violation of the spirit of asylum. The Biden administration has not just reinstated it, but has unfortunately expanded it to include Haitians, so that’s been a real disappointment.”

“They are fighting this out in the courts,” she added. “I want to urge them to continue to be aggressive. We have to prevail. We have to be sure we eliminate this awful program created by Stephen Miller altogether and hope that we end it permanently.”

Watch above via MSNBC.