On Monday, December 6, the Biden Administration restarted the Trump-era Remain in Mexico Program which requires immigrants coming to the US from the Mexican border to remain in Mexico while their asylum cases are processed. The Biden administration tried to cancel the program earlier in the year, but a federal judge in Texas ordered the administration to restart it.
The administration claims that it has instituted new protocols to make the program safer and decrease the amount of time immigrants have to wait as their cases are processed. The Biden administration has pledged that asylum cases will be completed within six months. In addition, they are providing health screenings and Covid-19 vaccines to migrants who are waiting on their cases to be processed and have pledged that they will give migrants access to legal aid in order to help them with their asylum applications.
There are also certain classes of vulnerable immigrants who will not be automatically removed from the US. These include pregnant women, the elderly, LGBTQ people, unaccompanied minors, and people with physical or mental disabilities. The US has also promised to increase the safety of those in the program by providing transportation across the border as migrants attend court hearings in the US.
Despite these promised improvements to the program, many remain critical of the program. Critics charge that the program violates international law concerning the rights of immigrants and refugees and forces migrants to remain in dangerous conditions as their asylum cases are processed. In addition, Biden expanded the program to include all immigrants from the Western hemisphere, whereas it previously only encompassed Spanish-speaking migrants. Trump made many of the same promises about the program that Biden is making now, but he was unable to follow through. Many immigration advocates are skeptical that Biden will be able to succeed where the Trump administration failed.
