The Joe Biden government has ended the policy that required asylum seekers in the United States to stay in Mexico while their immigration status was resolved in US courts.
The policy Remain in Mexico or "Remain in Mexico"officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols was implemented by the previous administration in January 2019. This protocol consisted of not allowing asylum seekers, mainly from Central America and Haiti, to stay within of US territory to wait for the resolution of your application. This action caused migratory crises to be experienced in border cities of Mexico such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez.
In the first few months alone, in May 2019, more than 3,000 migrants were returned from the United States to Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez. Given the uncertainty about the immigration and political situation in the United States, asylum applications in Mexico increased for as long as we could. In the first four months of 2021 alone, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar) registered 31,842 requests.
Now, during the new federal administration in the United States, President Joe Biden has suspended the program, and security authorities have gradually begun admitting asylum seekers. According to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), between February 19 and May 25, 2021, 11,200 immigrants were admitted to complete their process within the United States.
"I direct DHS staff to take all appropriate actions to end MPP, including taking all necessary steps to rescind the implementation guide and other directives or policy guides issued to implement the program," Mayorkas explained.
