Biden Admin to Allow 25,000 Asylum-Seekers Waiting in Mexico to Enter U.S.

By Mary Anne R. (staff@latinpost.com) First Posted: Feb 12, 2021 09:43 PM EST

American volunteer Mary Keenan hands out markers during class at "The Sidewalk School" for immigrant children at a squalid "Remain in Mexico" camp for asylum seekers on December 08, 2019 in the Mexican border town of Matamoros, Mexico. The weekly class, where mostly U.S. volunteers teach basic English, math and geography is run by the "Team Brownsville" humanitarian assistance organization for immigrants seeking political asylum in the United States. The camp, located across the international bridge from Brownsville, Texas houses more than 1,000 Central American and Mexican immigrants, now required by the U.S. government to wait in Mexico during the legal asylum process. (Photo : John Moore/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden's administration announced on Friday that they would start allowing thousands of asylum-seekers, particularly migrants who have been waiting in Mexico for their next immigration court hearings, to enter the U.S. while their cases proceed.

It was the latest move by Biden to end the immigration policies implemented during the administration of former President Donald Trump. It reverses the previous administration's policy that required migrants who sought asylum to remain in Mexico as they awaited a hearing, The Daily Wire reported.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said only migrants with pending active cases under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program would be eligible to be reprocessed beginning Feb. 19, Fox News reported.

The MPP, also known as "Remain in Mexico, was introduced by the Trump administration in January 2019 amid a surge of migrants seeking asylum.

"As President Biden has made clear, the U.S. government is committed to rebuilding a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

Mayorkas noted that this latest move was another step in their commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with the nation's values.

Eligible Migrants Will Be Allowed Entry

The Biden administration estimated that some 25,000 migrants enrolled in the MPP continue to have active cases. But the DHS said these individuals should not take any action right now and should remain where they are to await further instructions.

The agency noted that they would soon announce a virtual registration process that will be accessible from any location. The DHS also warned migrants that the announcement should not be interpreted "as an opening for people to migrate irregularly" to the U.S.

"Eligible individuals will only be allowed to enter through designated ports of entry at designated times," the DHS noted.

Mayorkas also said that due to the current public health crisis, restrictions at the border would remain in place and be enforced.

The DHS further noted that all eligible migrants would need to test negative for the COVID-19 while in Mexico before being allowed to enter the U.S. It added that around 300 migrants would likely be reprocessed daily at the three ports of entry, according to a USA Today report.

On Biden's first day in office, the DHS announced that it would suspend the MPP program for new enrollments as of Jan. 21. Biden earlier signed an executive order to review the policy.

MPP's Creation

The DHS with Justice Department rolled out the MPP in January 2019 at the San Diego-Tijuana border region. It was one in a series of measures that the Trump administration has imposed to restrict asylum and crackdown on unauthorized immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

An agreement with the Mexican government has allowed the U.S. border officials to send back more than 70,000 migrants to Mexico, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University's analysis.

Former DHS Secretary Chad Wolf described the policy as a "game-changer." During the first full month of implementing COVID-19 restrictions on asylum at the border in April, the government sent back at least 5,493 migrants to Mexico under the MPP.

Tags biden, asylum seekers, Mexico, Migrants, DHS