Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

'Remain in Mexico' program restarts, fueling frustration among immigration advocates

'Remain in Mexico' program restarts, fueling frustration among immigration advocates

The Biden administration relaunched the Trump-era border policy known as "Remain in Mexico" on Monday, kicking back into gear the program allowing officials to send non-Mexican migrants to Mexico to await their US immigration court hearings.

The policy started in El Paso, Texas, according to two Customs and Border Protection officials.

Immigrant advocates had braced for the court-ordered relaunch, but despite commitments by the Biden administration to be transparent, advocates told CNN they remained frustrated amid further confusion.

Under the Trump administration, thousands of migrants were subject to the program, formally known as Migrant Protection Protocols, and resided in makeshift camps along Mexico's northern border often in squalor and dangerous conditions.

President Joe Biden pledged to end the program and began the process of admitting those migrants who had previously been subject to it. But a federal judge in Texas disrupted those plans when he ordered the administration to revive the policy.

The Biden administration had pledged to make important changes as part of the restart, such as improving access to lawyers. Currently, there is a limit of 30 people enrolled in the policy per day in El Paso, according to Customs and Border Protection. Enrollments are expected to increase, as the policy expands to other locations along the US-Mexico border, including in San Diego, Calexico, Nogales, Eagle Pass, Laredo, and Brownsville.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the Biden administration was not eager to move ahead with the program, telling reporters Monday that DHS put in place changes to "improve humanitarian components," but added the administration still feels the program is "inefficient, inhumane."

"We did not eagerly reimplement it," Psaki said.

Those changes haven't quelled concerns among advocates.

"It's lipstick on a pig. But it's still a pig," said Sue Kenney-Pfalzer, director of border and asylum network at HIAS. "MPP is just plain inhumane. It's a little less inhumane perhaps, but it's still inhumane. Now that it's here and we have no choice we're going to figure out a way to get services to people."

HIAS, along with other groups, refused to be included in a list of legal service providers put together by the Biden administration, arguing that it didn't want to be complicit with the return of the policy.

Everyone in the new program will have access to an attorney before and during their interviews about fear of returning to Mexico, as well as prior to court hearings in the US, according to the Department of Homeland Security, marking a change to how the policy previously operated.

But attorneys say it's still unclear how migrants will reach them and whether they have enough capacity to serve those who are subject to the policy.

"We have huge capacity limits and don't want to be complicit in the restarting of MPP," said Linda Rivas, an immigration attorney and executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. "When they rely so much on the NGOs to make things happen, they try to justify programs that are inhumane and don't restore asylum."

Asylum officers from Houston and Los Angeles field offices have been trained on the new "Remain in Mexico" policy, according to a Homeland Security official, who added trainings for other officers will occur throughout the week.

"DHS is closely coordinating the court-mandated reimplementation of MPP with the Government of Mexico to address security concerns and operational constraints. DHS began the court-mandated reimplementation in one location today. For operational security reasons, DHS is not sharing details such as location of initial returns or number of individuals enrolled," a Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement Monday.

Last week, the union representing US Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers released a letter calling the Trump-era program "irredeemably flawed."

"No matter how you improve this, it's still fundamentally wrong and violates our convention mandate," said Michael Knowles, a representative of the American Federation of Government Employees National CIS Council 119, referring to the international refugee convention's prohibition on returning refugees to a territory where their lives or liberty may be at risk.

In a statement, the Round Table of Former Immigration Judges, which consists of 51 former immigration judges and members of the Board of Immigration Appeals, criticized the Biden administration for resuming the controversial policy.

"Tragically, to comply with a most misguided court order, the Biden administration, which promised us better, is today not only resuming the program with most of its cruelty intact, but expanding its scope to now apply to nationals of all Western Hemisphere countries," the statement reads.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×