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The Secretary of National Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas , issued today a new memorandum announcing and explaining its decision to terminate on Migrant Protection Program (MPP) , known as “Stay in Mexico” , by which tens of thousands of people who sought asylum in The United States have been sent to the neighboring country pending the development of their procedures.
“This Administration is addressing long-standing problems that have plagued our immigration system for decades to achieve the necessary systemic change. The MPP is not helping to achieve this goal, ”said Secretary Mayorkas.
“The MPP had endemic failures, imposed unjustifiable human costs, diverted resources and personnel from other priority efforts, and failed to address the root causes of migration. irregular. The MPP not only undermines the Administration’s ability to implement fundamental and fundamental changes in the immigration system, but it does not provide the fair process and humanitarian protections that people deserve under the law ”, assured Mayorkas in a statement.
Secretary Mayorkas conducted a comprehensive review to assess whether the MPP should be maintained, canceled or modified and concluded that the benefits do not justify the costs. He also considered that the program does not reach regional solutions that address the root causes that drive migrants to leave their countries.
“We must invest in policies that discourage irregular migration while promoting safe, orderly and humane routes ”, continued Mayorkas . “In addition to developing durable regional solutions with partner countries, we must address the problems that have plagued our asylum system for years.”
The Administration, For example, it has designed the dedicated dossier, which allows immigration judges to adjudicate cases in 300 days, and is enacting a next Asylum Officer Rule, which will transfer the initial responsibility for adjudicating applications for asylum from immigration judges to officers of asylum of USCIS, to achieve a decision-making in those cases that is more fair and timely.
These reforms are expected to produce transformative and lasting changes in the asylum system . Once fully implemented, these policies will address migration flows more effectively than MPP .
The Biden Administration remains subject to a court order requiring it to return to implement the MPP in good faith, and this decision will be enforced even as the judgment continues to be vigorously challenged.
As part of these efforts, DHS is involved in ongoing, high-level discussions with the Mexican government and has issued contracts to build judicial facilities temporary in Texas.
However, the MPP cannot be re-implemented until the Mexican government makes an independent decision to accept immigrant returns under the program.
“The Department will continue to fulfill (the judge’s) Texas mandate that requires the good faith implementation and application of MPP. But the MPP termination will be implemented as soon as possible after a final court decision to annul the Texas mandate, ”Mayorkas pointed out.
The new memorandum would go into effect if the courts lift the court order establishing the restart of the policy and the Biden Administration hopes it will be accepted, unlike the one National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued in June. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguably the most conservative court in the country, is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on Tuesday.
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