More than 110 organizations are asking the Biden administration to take urgent steps to ensure that no further migrants are harmed under the Remain in Mexico policy. While the Supreme Court last month ruled that officials had acted lawfully in terminating the anti-asylum policy, experts note that the decision didn’t mean it would be coming to an immediate end.
Now nearly a month since that ruling, 113 immigrant and refugee rights organizations and service providers are urging the administration “to take immediate action to wind down the policy and redress the harm suffered by those subjected to it.” Groups tell the president in their letter they “stand ready to support you in bringing this policy to an end once and for all.”
RELATED STORY: Asylum-seekers hope for speedy end to Remain in Mexico policy following Supreme Court decision
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“Despite your administration’s attempt to implement safeguards, severe human rights violations and fundamental due process problems continue in the latest iteration of Remain in Mexico, confirming your administration’s conclusion that the policy is inherently flawed,” the organizations said. The Biden administration, in its second attempt to end the policy last fall, acknowledged violence against returned asylum-seekers. But this memo was rejected by the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a surprising win late last month, the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, ruling it had the power to end the policy, which is officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). But experts have said that officials may not have the ability to try to end it again for some time. Maybe even as long as a year. “They say their hands are tied until the Supreme Court sends a certified copy of the judgment to the court of appeals,” Center for Gender and Refugee Studies director of litigation Melissa Crow tells Border Report. “In the meantime, we’re asking that (Biden) end MPP and begin to redress the enormous harm it has caused.”
The letter from the organization urges that officials ask the Supreme Court “expeditiously transmit the certified judgment of the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,” that officials stop returning individuals to Mexico under the policy, that officials help move enrollees currently in Mexico to the U.S. so that they can continue pursuing their claims, and that the infamous “tent courts” along the border be dismantled, among a number of requests (click here to read the full letter).
“As recent tragedies at the border make painfully clear, it is urgent that this administration take every available step to fully restore access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, including at ports of entry,” groups say, pointing to the horrific deaths of 53 people in a mass casualty smuggling incident. “Policies blocking asylum at the border have had a devastating toll on those seeking safety, including Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQI persons.”
“Anything less than a swift and principled end to Remain in Mexico will undermine the administration’s credibility; set a terrible example for other countries, including those that host the vast majority of the world's refugees; reward and embolden efforts to stop lawful administration actions; and bolster the unfounded narratives peddled by those seeking to portray people seeking protection as threats to the United States,” the groups continue. Remember that after falsely defending the policy as safe to the public, the previous administration admitted in court that it endangered those seeking safety.
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Now nearly a month since that ruling, 113 immigrant and refugee rights organizations and service providers are urging the administration “to take immediate action to wind down the policy and redress the harm suffered by those subjected to it.” Groups tell the president in their letter they “stand ready to support you in bringing this policy to an end once and for all.”
RELATED STORY: Asylum-seekers hope for speedy end to Remain in Mexico policy following Supreme Court decision
Campaign Action
“Despite your administration’s attempt to implement safeguards, severe human rights violations and fundamental due process problems continue in the latest iteration of Remain in Mexico, confirming your administration’s conclusion that the policy is inherently flawed,” the organizations said. The Biden administration, in its second attempt to end the policy last fall, acknowledged violence against returned asylum-seekers. But this memo was rejected by the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a surprising win late last month, the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, ruling it had the power to end the policy, which is officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). But experts have said that officials may not have the ability to try to end it again for some time. Maybe even as long as a year. “They say their hands are tied until the Supreme Court sends a certified copy of the judgment to the court of appeals,” Center for Gender and Refugee Studies director of litigation Melissa Crow tells Border Report. “In the meantime, we’re asking that (Biden) end MPP and begin to redress the enormous harm it has caused.”
The letter from the organization urges that officials ask the Supreme Court “expeditiously transmit the certified judgment of the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,” that officials stop returning individuals to Mexico under the policy, that officials help move enrollees currently in Mexico to the U.S. so that they can continue pursuing their claims, and that the infamous “tent courts” along the border be dismantled, among a number of requests (click here to read the full letter).
“As recent tragedies at the border make painfully clear, it is urgent that this administration take every available step to fully restore access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, including at ports of entry,” groups say, pointing to the horrific deaths of 53 people in a mass casualty smuggling incident. “Policies blocking asylum at the border have had a devastating toll on those seeking safety, including Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQI persons.”
“Anything less than a swift and principled end to Remain in Mexico will undermine the administration’s credibility; set a terrible example for other countries, including those that host the vast majority of the world's refugees; reward and embolden efforts to stop lawful administration actions; and bolster the unfounded narratives peddled by those seeking to portray people seeking protection as threats to the United States,” the groups continue. Remember that after falsely defending the policy as safe to the public, the previous administration admitted in court that it endangered those seeking safety.
We need your help to write 7 million postcards to targeted voters in seven U.S. Senate battleground states this November. Click here to volunteer to write postcards with Postcards to Swing States, and help Democrats keep and expand their majority in the U.S. Senate.
RELATED STORIES:
In surprising ruling, Supreme Court sides with Biden admin on anti-asylum Remain in Mexico policy
Biden admin again tries to end Remain in Mexico policy, citing 'endemic flaws' and 'human costs'
'A year of horrors': Human costs of Trump admin's Remain in Mexico policy continue to climb