A federal judge in Texas blocked the Biden administration from scrapping the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a pause on the Biden administration’s decision to end the program, according to the judge’s order. The policy forces certain illegal immigrants to return to Mexico as they await court proceedings. (RELATED: Border Patrol Agents Confronted Mayorkas In El Paso. Here’s What Was Said)
The Supreme Court ruled in June that the Biden administration can terminate the policy, which was formally lifted in August.
“As Secretary Mayorkas has said, MPP has endemic flaws, imposes unjustifiable human costs, and pulls resources and personnel away from other priority efforts to secure our border,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said at the time.
Migrants, among them Nicaraguans who were kidnapped by organised crime in the state of Durango and were released days later by the Mexican Army, queue near the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents to request asylum in the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
The Biden administration initially tried to end the policy on the president’s first day in office, but was quickly met lawsuits led by Republican states.
The decision comes as federal border authorities encounter overwhelming levels of illegal immigration, with a record more than 2.3 million migrants encountered in fiscal year 2022 and even more expected with the end of another Trump-era expulsion policy, Title 42, expected on Dec. 21.
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