ACLU Comment on End of Remain in Mexico Program

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced it is formally ending the remain in Mexico program, also known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).

The American Civil Liberties Union and partners challenged the Trump administration policy when it was first implemented. In January, the Biden administration suspended new MPP enrollments.

Judy Rabinovitz, ACLU attorney and lead counsel in the MPP challenge, had the following reaction to today’s developments:

“This is a huge victory. The forced return policy was cruel, depraved, and illegal, and we are glad that it has finally been rescinded. The administration must follow through on this announcement by ensuring that everyone who has been subjected to this policy can now pursue their asylum cases in the United States, in safety and without additional trauma or delay. And it must swiftly move to dismantle the Trump administration’s other attacks on the asylum system, including the unconscionable ‘Title 42’ order.”

The ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Center for Gender & Refugee Studies had challenged the policy on behalf of 11 individual asylum seekers and organizational plaintiffs Innovation Law Lab, the Central American Resource Center of Northern California, Centro Legal de la Raza, the University of San Francisco School of Law Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic, Al Otro Lado, and the Tahirih Justice Center.

Case background: https://www.aclu.org/cases/innovation-law-lab-v-wolf