Federal Judge Blocks Biden’s Attempt To End ‘Remain In Mexico’ Policy

A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to end the Trump-era’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also referred to as the “Remain in Mexico” program, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a court hearing.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Biden administration ending MPP would not violate federal law. However, the Supreme Court also returned the case to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to determine if the Biden administration’s action was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

“Before terminating MPP, Defendants had to thoroughly consider the effect of the termination on mandatory-detention duties. … Defendants failed to do so,” Kacsmaryk wrote, adding, “Defendants fail to consider MPP’s impact on human trafficking. … Plaintiffs, particularly the state of Texas, shoulder much of the burden of unlawful immigration.”

“By terminating MPP without adequately considering the reliance of States in the control of the flow of aliens (as assisted by MPP). Defendants do not appear to have tied their approach, ‘even if loosely, to the purposes of the immigration laws or the appropriate operation of the immigration system,’” Kacsmaryk stated.

The news comes as the border crisis continues to worsen with illegal immigration levels at an all-time high. According to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), border agents encountered a record of 2,378,944 migrants attempting to illegally cross the U.S. border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022. That record dwarfed the previous record of 1,734,686 migrant encounters that was set in 2021 – Biden’s first year in office.