The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the request of President Joe Biden's Administration to prevent a lower court to restart the "Remain In Mexico" Policy otherwise known as the Migrant Protection Protocols.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito released the order that denied Biden's request on the basis of failing on their claims against the Migrant Protection Protocols. Alito clarified, however, that his order does not prevent the government to file a petition for injunction at the Court of Appeals, whose application would be granted by three members of the Supreme Court.
"The application for a stay presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied. The applicants have failed to show a likelihood of success on the claim that the memorandum rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols was not arbitrary and capricious," Alito said in the order.
"Our order denying the Government's request for a stay of the District Court injunction should not be read as affecting the construction of that injunction by the Court of Appeals. Justice Breer, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan would grant the application," he added.
The Associated Press explained that the Migrant Protection Protocols was launched in January 2019 by former President Donald Trump through the Department of Homeland Security "to discourage asylum seekers'" entry in the United States.
While the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Justice For Immigrants elaborated that the policy sends "asylum-seekers to Mexico to wait through the duration of their cases pending in the U.S. immigration court system."
But the policy is said to be "harmful" as it makes "vulnerable people wait to access asylum protection and due process in Mexico" where there are "dangerous and unsafe circumstances" that pose a "risk" to their lives and where they may not be able "to access health services and humanitarian aid" besides the possibility of facing deportation.
In addition, people who avail of the program are those who have "a credible fear of persecution" yet are made to "wait in Mexico without access to family, legal, or social support" exposing them to the risk of being "retraumatized" in the process.
Biden promised during his campaign that he will end the Remain in Mexico Policy. This he actually did, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in February, on "his first day in office" out of his "commitment to immigration" after reviewing the "damage that has been done by the" policy, which is tagged as one of "the immoral actions of the prior administration."
The Department of Homeland Security followed suit in February 19 for the actual implementation of Biden's "reform of" the "nation's immigration system" by finally taking "steps to begin processing individuals who, under the previous administration, had been forced to remain in Mexico under the Migrant Protection Protocol."
By March, the Department of Homeland Security have already processed more than "100 individuals a day" who have cases under the MPP through mobile phone registration in partnership with "the Mexican government and international organizations in Mexico."
The offset, however, was that the removal of the MPP was mistaken by immigrants to mean they can freely "migrate irregularly to the United States" and have actually been used by some human traffickers to exploit those wishing to live in the United States.
The White House had to reinstate in June that although "the Remain in Mexico Policy has ended" the United States' message to immigrants continues to be "the border is still closed" for "this is a dangerous time to come" due to the pandemic and the immigration system being polished.
Meanwhile, the states of Texas and Missouri sued the Biden Administration at the United States District Court Northern District of Texas for removing the MPP, which is said to have sent more than 60,000 asylum seekers to Mexico. The states, as per the Texas Tribune, raised that removing the MPP "would result in a flow of undocumented immigrants" in their territories.
The lawsuit was handled by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk who ruled in favor of the states on August 13 by issuing a permanent injunction nationwide. Kacsmaryk ordered the DHS to "enforce and implement MPP in good faith" until its Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, could provide "additional explanation for his decision" and that the department already has "sufficient detention capacity to detain all aliens."
