Judge orders Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy to be reinstated

A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy that had been put in place by the Trump administration, stating that President Biden’s White House had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in ending the program.

As CBS News reported, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said in his ruling on Friday that the Biden administration had violated procedural laws and failed to see “several of the main benefits” of the Remain in Mexico policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).

In June, the Biden administration formally ended Trump’s immigration policy, which required asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico as their cases awaited trial in the U.S.

Biden suspended the program on his first day in office.

The lawsuit resulting in Kacsmaryk’s decision had been brought forward by Texas and Missouri. Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, stayed his decision for a week in order to give the Biden administration time to appeal it, CBS noted.

In his ruling, Kacsmaryk, stated that Texas and Missouri were being harmed by the Biden administration’s decision to end the MPP, as migrants released into the U.S. would use the country’s health care system, apply for driver’s licenses and send their children to U.S. schools.

Last week, it was reported that the number of attempted border crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border had reached the highest numbers seen since 2000, with more than 212,000 people attempting to cross the border in July.

“It is critical that intending migrants understand clearly that they will be turned back if they enter the United States illegally and do not have a basis for relief under our laws,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters.