US: Biden administration suspends Trump's 'Remain-in-Mexico' policy following court order

The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended the ex-US president Donald Trump's controversial 'Remain in Mexico' border policy that required certain migrants to wait for their asylum hearings in Mexico in order to deter them from coming illegally into the US. The suspension was implemented following a  federal court order that ended the legal back-and-forth for the migrants, US border officials informed in a statement.  

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), meanwhile, informed that since the court orders, it had stopped placing migrants in the Migrant Protection Protocols under the Trump era "Remain-in-Mexico." The DHS will now allow the migrants to continue their asylum cases inside the US instead of deporting them back to Mexico. 

"DHS is committed to ending the court-ordered implementation of MPP in a quick, and orderly, manner," the department iterated.

Furthermore, it urged the asylum-seekers to adhere to the official information from the government, not the smugglers. The court ruling is being viewed as a 'victory' by the asylum seekers who were subjected to draconian treatment under the Remain-in-Mexico policy. 

'Remain in Mexico Policy' restarted in San Diego, other Texas border towns 

The Biden administration had re-implemented the Trump-era contentious "Remain in Mexico" policy for tackling the migrant crisis on the US-Mexico border. Asylum seekers who have been attempting to enter the United States over its southern border will once again be returned back to Mexico, the Biden administration announced several months ago. Meanwhile, their applications were supposed to be processed in the US. 

The 'Remain in Mexico Policy' was restarted in San Diego, as well as the Texas towns of Laredo, Brownsville, and El Paso. A petition was later filed with the Supreme Court to terminate the policy labelling it "arbitrary" and "capricious."  Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, had also ridiculed the program, saying that it has “endemic flaws, imposed unjustifiable human costs, pulled resources and personnel away from other priority efforts, and did not address the root causes of irregular migration." The Migrant Protection Protocols were reinstated in December 2021 when Trump took office, and an estimated 5,764 migrants have since been returned to Mexico according to US government data. Although at least 13,000 asylum-seekers previously enrolled in Remain-in-Mexico were allowed to enter the US.