Mexico and U.S. Face Awkward Return to ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy

Although the Joe Biden administration has initiated talks with the Mexican government to restart the “Remain in Mexico” program, also known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPPs), and once more send asylum seekers outside U.S. territory while their cases are processed, early indications suggest the controversial Donald Trump-era policy may not return on a large scale, reports the New York Times. Mexican officials say they intend to continue cooperating with the United States on immigration management and border controls, and “technical talks” to discuss MPPs restarting will occur as part of ongoing conversations about migration.

Mexican officials said they are waiting to see how U.S. officials propose to restore “Remain in Mexico,” and whether they have a plan to avoid the aspects of the program’s last iteration when rights groups documented the abuse of returned migrants by criminal gangs. In recent weeks, Mexico has allowed the United States for the first time to begin sending Central American migrants deep into southern Mexico on Title 42 “expulsion flights,” a practice considered a more effective border management tool than the “Remain in Mexico” program because it relocates migrants away from Mexican border cities where they are vulnerable to attack and incentivized to attempt repeat crossings.  Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has ordered the Biden administration to file monthly reports to the court detailing its efforts to restore MPP, with the first one due Sept. 15, 2021.