Federal judge orders Biden administration to revive 'Remain in Mexico' Policy

Carmine Sabia
Conservative Brief
Sat, 14 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC

© New York Times/CNP/Polaris/Newscom/KJN

Former US President Donald Trump • President Joe Biden

A federal judge has ruled that the Biden administration must resume the Trump-era remain in Mexico policy that was ended this year.

The Department of Homeland Security "failed to consider several critical factors" before it got rid of the policy, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Donald Trump, said on Friday, Bloomberg reported.

It's another setback for President Joe Biden following a January ruling by a different judge in Texas that temporarily blocked the new administration's plan to pause deportations of undocumented immigrants for 100 days.

Friday's decision came in a lawsuit filed by the Republican-led states of Texas and Missouri, which claimed the suspension of the program was worsening conditions at the border and allowing criminals to slip into the country.

Biden suspended the so-called Remain in Mexico program the day after he office on Jan. 20., on the grounds that it pushed migrants into squalid and dangerous housing south of the border.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in June that a review determined the policy:

"does not adequately or sustainably enhance border management in such a way as to justify the program's extensive operational burdens and other shortfalls."

"Over the course of the program, border encounters increased during certain periods and decreased during others. Moreover, in making my assessment, I share the belief that we can only manage migration in an effective, responsible, and durable manner if we approach the issue comprehensively, looking well beyond our own borders."

Judge Kacsmaryk said that the memo fails to mention some of the benefits of the policy, known as MPP:

"At the very least, the Secretary was required to show a reasoned decision for discounting the benefits of MPP. Instead, the June 1 Memorandum does not address the problems created by false claims of asylum or how MPP addressed those problems. Likewise, it does not address the fact that DHS previously found that 'approximately 9 out of 10 asylum claims from Northern Triangle countries are ultimately found non-meritorious by federal immigration judges,' and that MPP discouraged such aliens from traveling and attempting to cross the border in the first place,"

Kacsmaryk ordered that the program be resumed, but he did stay his decision for 7 days to allow for the administration to seek relief in an appeals court.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who, along with the state of Missouri, brought the lawsuit, celebrated the decision on Twitter. The attorney general's office tweeted:

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt also tweeted about the victory against the Biden administration:

Schmitt said in a Fox News interview last month:

"We are hopeful for a favorable ruling because it is clear that the Biden administration didn't consider anything relevant to how it was working or notice and comment, and obviously we have a crisis at the border now. Anyone who is paying attention knows we have a 21-year high in border crossings, drug traffickers, and human traffickers have been emboldened, and that affects not just Texas but states like Missouri."

Comment: On the surface this turn of events sounds like a ding for Biden's knee-jerk presidency and a win for Trump policies. In all likelihood the ongoing border disaster will similarly continue and the case against it diminish. Any reductions will remain in excess of Trump tallies.

Mayorkas admits to border agents 'we're going to lose' if this crisis persists:

In a leaked audio tape of a private meeting between Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol agents in Texas, the cabinet member can be heard saying that current conditions at the U.S. southern border are "unsustainable," and America is "going to lose."

Mayorkas was at the border on Thursday when he announced that agents had encountered more than 212,000 illegal migrants entering the country in July, a 13% increase from June. He publicly acknowledged that the ongoing crisis is "one of the toughest challenges we face."

Privately, but recorded on tape, he told agents:

"our people in the field can't continue, and our system isn't built for it. A couple of days ago I was down in Mexico, and I said look, you know, if, if our borders are the first line of defense, we're going to lose and this is unsustainable."

One agent in the meeting reportedly responded to Mayorkas by telling him that mitigating the current flood of illegal immigrant crossings is a matter of policy. "We know exactly how to shut it down," he said. "We need to make illegal entry illegal."

The Department of Homeland Security is advocating for an increased number of expulsion flights into the deep interior of Mexico, such that illegal migrants can't "turn around and give it another try," said Mayorkas, adding that 27% of those apprehended last month had tried at least one time in the last 12 months to enter the U.S.

See also:

• See also: 'This is lunacy': Frustrated border patrol agents take pictures of overcrowded detention facilities
• Photos reveal 'terrible conditions' inside border facility, hundreds of migrant children packed into small makeshift rooms
• Twice as many children are in Border Patrol custody under Biden than Trump peak in 2019
• Border Patrol chief says agents now ''empowered" under Trump