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Democratic President Joe Biden attempted to scrap his Republican
predecessor's policy - often referred to as "Remain in Mexico" -
soon after taking office in January. But after Texas and
Missouri sued, a federal judge ruled it had to be reinstated and
an appeals court earlier this month agreed.
Under the 2019 policy put in place by former President Donald
Trump, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP),
migrants seeking asylum must wait weeks and sometimes years in
Mexico for a U.S. court date instead of being allowed to await
their hearings in the United States.
Biden decried the policy on the campaign trail and immigration
advocates have said migrants stuck in dangerous border cities
have faced kidnappings and other dangers.
After a federal court ruled he had to reinstate MPP, the Biden
administration re-issued a memo terminating it in the hopes it
would overcome the legal challenges.
But the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
was not convinced by the new memo, saying in its ruling on Dec.
13, that "simply by typing out a new Word document and posting
it on the internet" was not sufficient.
Biden's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court whether it
must continue implementing the policy and whether the appeals
court erred in concluding the new memo had no legal effect.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Sandra
Maler)
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