The Biden administration plans to reimplement the Trump-era policy Remain in Mexico after losing a lawsuit over the immigration policy in August. In a court filing on Thursday (Oct. 14), White House officials said they intend to resume the policy in mid-November.
After he took office, President Joe Biden ended the Remain in Mexico Policy, which forces migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings. At the time, the president called the policy inhumane, since migrants faced violence while waiting at the border.
However, Texas and Missouri sued the administration this April to reinstate the policy. In August, a federal judge in Texas ordered the administration to resume the policy pending the outcome of the lawsuit. The White House fought the order, but lost in a federal appeals court and in the Supreme Court, conceding on Thursday that it will comply with the judge’s order.
Unless the administration wins Texas and Missouri’s lawsuit, the policy will be reinstated next month. However, the administration added new amendments, including a rule that migrants will not have to wait more than six months at the border for their immigration hearings. Asylum seekers will also have hearings set up in courts near Brownsville and Laredo, Texas.
The Mexican government will also have an opportunity to amend the policy, officials said Thursday.
“Significantly, Mexico is a sovereign nation that must make an independent decision to accept the return of individuals without status in Mexico as part of any reimplementation of MPP (Remain in Mexico),” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “Discussions with the Government of Mexico concerning when and how MPP will be reimplemented are ongoing.”
According to NBC, the Biden administration has continued to implement a COVID-19 policy known as Title 42, which allows the government to deport migrants back to their home countries or force them back into Mexico without granting them immigration hearings. Officials said Thursday that Title 42 will continue and any migrants who are not subject to the policy would then be subject to Remain in Mexico.