The Trump administration said on Tuesday it will reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” program, resuming an initiative that forced asylum seekers in the non-Mexican United States to wait in Mexico for their cases to be resolved.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it must restart the program immediately, years after it was ended by former President Joe Biden.
Donald Trump resumed the presidency last Monday, promising to move forward with aggressive border security measures, including the reestablishment of the “Remain in Mexico”, previously known as the Immigrant Protection Protocols.
Trump launched the program in 2019 during his first term. Trump officials report he must stop what they called fraudulent asylum claims, while activists say the move is likely to endanger vulnerable immigrants, including families with young children.
Biden ended the “Remain in Mexico” program in 2021, arguing that immigrants were facing poor and dangerous conditions on the Mexican side of the border.
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that a legal dispute over the program’s termination left open the opportunity for a quick resumption.
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Asked earlier in the day about the possibility of “Remain in Mexico” being restarted, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would meet the needs of immigrants in a humanitarian manner, although she also committed to repatriating foreign immigrants to their countries. of origin.
