Supreme Court Rules Biden Can Terminate ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy

July 5, 2022

On June 30, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration could terminate the 2019 Migrant Protection Protocols (“MPP”), known as the Remain in Mexico policy. The Court agreed with the Biden Administration that ending MPP would not violate federal law, thereby allowing the Executive Branch to move forward with terminating MPP.

This decision was the latest in the legal conflict surrounding MPP that started in 2019 when the Trump administration established MPP, which provided for the return of Mexican and non-Mexican asylum seekers to Mexico while they await their immigration court hearings. Between January 2019 and December 2020, 68,309 foreign nationals were enrolled in MPP. On January 20, 2021, under the new Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security announced the suspension of MPP, and in June 2021, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Alexander Mayorkas issued a memorandum terminating MPP (the June 1 Memorandum), followed by a secondary memo in October explaining the reasons for terminating MPP. Texas and Missouri brought suit challenging the termination of MPP, and after federal courts found in favor of the States, the Biden Administration sought expedited review before the Supreme Court.

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