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News outlet Axios reported earlier that returns under the
program officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)
could restart as soon as next week. But one of the Mexican
officials said agreement was unlikely to be reached this week.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement it
was working to resume the program "as promptly as possible" but
could not do so without Mexico's agreement.
The two Mexican government officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said talks were ongoing to determine under what terms
the United States could begin returns.
Mexico is insisting Washington provide more support against
COVID-19 for migrants, such as vaccinations, more legal aid for
asylum seekers, and acceleration of hearings for those taking
part in the returns program, one senior Mexican official said.
The administration of President Joe Biden, who vowed to undo
some of the hardline immigration policies of his predecessor,
Donald Trump, ended MPP. The scheme makes asylum seekers wait in
Mexico for hearings before U.S. immigration judges.
But a federal judge ordered the administration to restart the
program, saying it had failed to follow proper regulatory
procedure. The U.S. Supreme Court in August rejected an
administration appeal against the lower court's ruling.
Late last month, the administration tried again to end the
program, hoping to address the judge's concerns. But it also
said it was moving to comply with the court's order.
Biden has been under political and humanitarian pressure on the
immigration issue because of an increase in migrants at the U.S.
border.
Immigration advocates argue the MPP program exposed migrants to
violence and kidnappings in dangerous border cities, where
people camped out for months or years waiting for U.S. hearings.
During bilateral negotiations, Mexico has sought to ensure that
new returns are carried out in a more controlled fashion, and
that particularly vulnerable migrants and unaccompanied minors
are excluded, the Mexican officials said.
The two officials also said Mexico's government is trying to
secure a U.S. commitment to provide additional support for
international organizations that help look after migrants and
shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border. When MPP was in place
under Trump, a sprawling camp arose in the border city of
Matamoros in a violence-plagued region of Mexico.
In its report, Axios cited a Homeland Security official as
saying the policy would initially be reinstated in El Paso,
Texas, Brownsville, Texas, opposite Matamoros, and San Diego.
Axios said the Biden administration would give asylum seekers
the option of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
Although Biden has sought to reverse some Trump-era immigration
measures, he has kept in place a sweeping expulsion policy
initiated at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That policy turns most migrants caught crossing the border away
without giving them a chance to apply for asylum at all.
(Reporting by Dave Graham in Mexico City; Additional reporting
by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Mica Rosenberg in New York and
Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and
Peter Cooney)
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