From 'Remain in Mexico' to 'Remain wherever'
The Biden administration has finally pulled the plug on "Remain in Mexico":
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it has ended a Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration court, hours after a judge lifted an order, in effect since December, that the so-called Remain in Mexico rule be reinstated.
What happens now? That's the $64,000 question, as my late mother used to say. Well, this is what we hear:
The program now will be unwound in a "quick, and orderly manner", DHS said in a statement. No more people are being enrolled and those who appear in court will not be returned to Mexico when they appear in the US for their next hearings.
The policy "has endemic flaws, imposes unjustifiable human costs, and pulls resources and personnel away from other priority efforts to secure our border", the department said.
Many questions remain, including whether those whose claims have been denied or dismissed will get a second chance or if those whose next court dates are months away will be allowed to return to the US sooner, where many immigration courts are struggling with backlogs and staff shortages.
DHS said it will provide additional information "in the coming days".
We will wait for additional information. Maybe the DHS will respond a little faster than the DoJ has done to the raid in former President Trump's home.
"Remain in Mexico" worked. In fact, it worked so well that then-candidate V.P. Biden promised to end it. It was V.P. Biden pandering to the immigration activists and hoping he'd never get elected and have to terminate the successful program. It was also the Democrats pandering to Hispanics but not realizing that open borders is not what they want in South Texas.
Last, but not least, the absence of "Remain in Mexico" will overwhelm the Border Patrol agents trying to do their jobs.
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Image: National Archive.