Biden Admin Set to Reinstate Trump-Era ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy After Court Orders: Report

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images.

The Biden administration is planning to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy implemented under the Trump administration, following a court order earlier this year.

Back in August, a federal judge ordered the administration revive the policy requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while waiting on their applications.

At the time, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said that the Department of Homeland Security “failed to consider several critical factors” before ending the policy.

The policy was initially announced by former President Donald Trump in November 2018, who tweeted, “Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally.”

As a result of the August court order, Axios reported Wednesday, the Biden administration will start reimplementing the program “as soon as next week.”

Under court orders, the president will officially undo a key immigration promise, which will force asylum-seekers to wait months in Mexico ahead of their immigration court hearings in the U.S. — as long as Mexico accepts them.

One difference from the program under former President Trump’s administration: All migrant adults enrolled in “Remain in Mexico” will be offered the vaccine, although it can’t be required, according to two government immigration officials.

A DHS spokesperson told Axios, “In compliance with the court order, we are working to reimplement MPP as promptly as possible… We cannot do so until we have the independent agreement from the Government of Mexico to accept those we seek to enroll in MPP. We will communicate to the court, and to the public, the timing of reimplementation when we are prepared to do so.”

Biden was questioned at a CNN town hall in October about “revert[ing] to Trump-era policies on immigration.”

The president said at the time, “The Remain in Mexico policy, which I oppose, the court said I had to maintain it. So we’re appealing it. That’s one of the reasons why we haven’t changed it.”

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