US court rejects Reuters offer to end Trump’s “stay in Mexico” border policy

Author: Mica Rosenberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. court of appeals on Monday rejected a new attempt by the Biden administration to end the policy imposed by former President Donald Trump, forcing thousands of immigrants to wait in Mexico until a U.S. asylum was resolved. cases.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, dropped his Republican precedent policy – often referred to as “staying in Mexico” – shortly after taking office in January this year. But after Texas and Missouri sued, a federal judge ruled that they should be reinstated.

Under the 2019 policy, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), migrants seeking asylum will have to wait weeks and sometimes years to get a U.S. court appointment in Mexico instead of waiting for hearings in the United States. Biden condemned the campaign’s policy and advocates of immigration said migrants stuck in dangerous border towns had been subjected to kidnappings and other threats.

The Biden administration re-issued a note to the MPP saying it would overcome legal challenges. But the U.S. Court of Appeals, which has a conservative leanings, was not convinced by the new notes.

In a ruling Monday night, the court said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “claims the power to implement a massive policy overturn – affecting billions of dollars and dozens of people – by writing a new Word document and posting it on the Web. Internet. ordinary proceedings and not judicial review “.

“DHS is nowhere near approaching to take on its heavy burden to show that it can do the law in vain,” the judge wrote in a 117-page opinion.

The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Following a court order, the administration began sending first asylum seekers to Mexico again last week.

The number of migrants trapped across the U.S.-Mexico border has risen this year, sparking criticism from Republicans.

Many migrants detained at the border, however, are quickly deported without the opportunity to seek asylum, according to a different Trump policy established at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic maintained by Biden.