CNN

Supreme Court says Biden can end Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ immigration policy

Jun 30, 2022, 8:18 AM | Updated: 8:46 am

Immigration activists rally outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 26. Photo credi...

Immigration activists rally outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 26. Photo credit: Will Oliver/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.

Originally Published: 30 JUN 22 10:14 ET
Updated: 30 JUN 22 10:28 ET

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Thursday gave President Joe Biden the green light to end the controversial “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy that originated under the Trump administration.

Since the beginning of his administration, Biden has tried to wind down the policy, which sends certain non-Mexican citizens who entered the US back to Mexico — instead of detaining them or releasing them into the United States — while their immigration proceedings played out.

Biden’s bid to terminate the program had been challenged in court by a coalition of red states led by Texas that argued that ending it ran afoul of immigration law. They also argued that administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act — which requires that agencies take certain procedural steps when implementing policy — in how it went about unwinding the program, formally known as Migrant Protection Protocols.

The program, which was first implemented in 2019 under then-President Donald Trump, has been criticized by immigrant-rights advocates, who argue that it’s inhumane and that it exposes asylum seekers with credible claims to dangerous and squalid conditions in Mexico.

Before the Trump administration put the “Remain in Mexico” program in place, no other administration had embraced such an approach toward non-Mexican asylum-seekers that required them to stay in Mexico over the course of their immigration court proceedings in the United States. Biden campaigned on ending the policy and has said it “goes against everything we stand for as a nation of immigrants.”

Biden has grappled with a growing number of border crossings over the course of his administration amid mass migration in the Western hemisphere. Since October, border authorities have encountered migrants more than a million times along the US-Mexico border, though many have been turned away under a separate pandemic-emergency rule. The Department of Homeland Security, though, has maintained that the “Remain in Mexico” policy comes at a steep human cost and is not an effective use of resources.

According to the Biden Justice Department, the relevant immigration law had never before been interpreted as requiring the government to send migrants back to Mexico with pending immigration proceedings that it was unable to hold in detention.

“Every presidential administration has understood this to just be a purely discretionary authority. That goes for the prior administration,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said at oral arguments in April.

She also argued that keeping “Remain in Mexico” in force would not solve the essential problem: that Congress has instructed that immigration officials “shall” detain asylum seekers whose proceedings are pending but that lawmakers have failed to appropriate sufficient resources for those detention facilities.

“Contiguous territory return cannot be the solution here,” Prelogar said, while noting that when the Trump administration was carrying out the policy, only 6.5% of the migrants encountered at the border were enrolled in the program.

“It has inherent constraints,” Prelogar said, pointing to the buy-in the program requires of Mexico, a sovereign nation.

Biden first sought to suspend the program on the day he took office in 2021, prompting the red states’ lawsuit. That June, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memo formally ending the policy — but a federal judge in Texas blocked that move in August. The Supreme Court days later refused to put that ruling on hold while the appeal played out, effectively requiring Biden to revive “Remain in Mexico.”

In October, Mayorkas issued a new memo ordering the program’s termination, which sought to address the procedural flaws laid out in the district court’s August ruling. A point of contention in the lower court proceedings was whether that October memo made the earlier rulings moot, with the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals finding that it did not.

The policy restarted last December. More than 5,000 migrants have been returned to Mexico under the program since then, according to the International Organization for Migration. Nicaragua, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela are among the nationalities enrolled in the program.

The most sweeping issue in the case was the level of discretion left to the executive branch by immigration statutes in question, which were amended on several occasions over the last century-plus. One provision of the law says that asylum seekers whose claims are still being vetted “shall” be detained pending those proceedings.

Another provision, adopted in 1996, said the federal government “may return” migrants still awaiting their proceedings to the contiguous territory from which they entered. Another provision says that, on a “case by case” basis, immigration officials may release on parole migrants whose proceedings are pending.

The Biden administration’s opponents in the case had argued that the administration had been releasing migrants on parole in a categorical way that went beyond the “case by case” basis outlined in the statute.

“Petitioners would prefer not to choose from the options Congress has provided—namely, to detain, individually parole, or return covered aliens,” Texas said in a brief. “They instead seek the power to release classes of aliens into the United States en masse.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Send it to the KSL NewsRadio team here.

CNN

us capitol shown, government shutdown deadline approaching...

Lauren Fox, Clare Foran and Manu Raju, CNN

Border policy a key sticking point in Congress with shutdown deadline just days away

While government operations would halt if funding is not approved in time, the damage would be minimal if a shutdown is relegated to the weekend.

6 hours ago

Hitting peak time for the cherry tree bloom in Washington, D.C., can be a little tricky. But if you...

Aileen Graef and Elisa Raffa, CNN

‘Peak bloom!’: Cherry blossoms open early in DC, park service announces

Originally Published: 17 MAR 24 19:48 ET Updated: 17 MAR 24 19:55 ET (CNN) — The cherry blossoms lining the National Mall in Washington, DC, have hit “peak bloom,” bursting open in an early spring display after a warm winter, the National Park Service announced Sunday. “PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! Did we say […]

14 hours ago

Environmental Conservation officers seize an alligator from a home in Hamburg, New York, on March 1...

Zoe Sottile, CNN

Authorities seize 750-pound alligator named Albert from New York home

A New York man was forced to say “see you later" to his alligator after local authorities determined he was keeping the reptile illegally.

15 hours ago

Elon Musk, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Rupert Murdoch are pictured in a split ima...

Tierney Sneed, CNN

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family dissents after award in her name is given to Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family wants her name off an award due to it being received by Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch.

16 hours ago

Zach Edey of the Purdue Boilermakers blocks a shot during the second half of a game against Ohio St...

Issy Ronald, CNN

March Madness: Here are the top seeds for the men’s NCAA basketball tournament

The top four seeds are the Connecticut Huskies, Purdue Boilermakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and Houston Cougars.

1 day ago

The Biden administration is welcoming six new countries to a US-led pact to crack down on phone-hac...

Sean Lyngaas, CNN

US welcomes new governments to fight against spyware as it finds more American personnel have been targeted

The Biden administration is welcoming six new countries to a US-led pact to crack down on phone-hacking spyware.

1 day ago

Sponsored Articles

Mother and cute toddler child in a little fancy wooden cottage, reading a book, drinking tea and en...

Visit Bear Lake

How to find the best winter lodging in Bear Lake, Utah

Winter lodging in Bear Lake can be more limited than in the summer, but with some careful planning you can easily book your next winter trip.

Happy family in winter clothing at the ski resort, winter time, watching at mountains in front of t...

Visit Bear Lake

Ski more for less: Affordable ski resorts near Bear Lake, Utah

Plan your perfect ski getaway in Bear Lake this winter, with pristine slopes, affordable tickets, and breathtaking scenery.

front of the Butch Cassidy museum with a man in a cowboy hat standing in the doorway...

Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

Looking Back: The History of Bear Lake

The history of Bear Lake is full of fascinating stories. At over 250,000 years old, the lake has seen generations of people visit its shores.

silhouette of a family looking over a lake with a bird in the top corner flying...

Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

8 Fun Activities To Do in Bear Lake Without Getting in the Water

Bear Lake offers plenty of activities for the whole family to enjoy without having to get in the water. Catch 8 of our favorite activities.

Wellsville Mountains in the spring with a pond in the foreground...

Wasatch Property Management

Advantages of Renting Over Owning a Home

Renting allows you to enjoy luxury amenities and low maintenance without the long-term commitment and responsibilities of owning a home.

Clouds over a red rock vista in Hurricane, Utah...

Wasatch Property Management

Why Southern Utah is a Retirement Paradise

Retirement in southern Utah offers plenty of cultural and recreational opportunities. Find out all that this region has to offer.

Supreme Court says Biden can end Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ immigration policy