Migrants seeking to enter the United States will again have to stay in Mexico as they await immigration hearings, as the Biden administration reluctantly announced plans Thursday to accept former President Donald Trump’s policy and agreed to Mexico’s conditions for resuming it.
Revival of the “Remain in Mexico” policy comes even as the Biden administration maneuvers to end it in a way that survives legal scrutiny. President Joe Biden scrapped the policy, but a lawsuit by Texas and Missouri forced him to put it back into effect, subject to Mexico’s acceptance.
Mexico’s foreign relations secretary said in light of U.S. concessions Mexico will allow returns, expected to begin next week, “for humanitarian reasons and for temporary stays.”
Mexico’s conditions include COVID-19 vaccinations for migrants, more protection in dangerous Mexican border cities, better access to attorneys, and quicker resolution of cases.
About 70,000 asylum-seekers have been subject to the policy, which Trump introduced in January 2019 and which Biden suspended on his first day in office.
Illegal border crossings fell sharply after Mexico, facing Trump’s threat of higher tariffs, acquiesced in 2019 to the policy’s rapid expansion.
Migrants are expected to be returned starting Monday in one border city, which has not been identified. It will eventually be done in seven locations: San Diego and Calexico in California; Nogales, Arizona; and the Texas border cities of Brownsville, Eagle Pass, El Paso, and Laredo.
The Homeland Security Department said Thursday that it was acting to comply with a court order but that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas believes the policy “has endemic flaws, imposed unjustifiable human costs, pulled resources and personnel away from other priority efforts, and failed to address the root causes of irregular migration.”
The dual announcements follow intense discussions between the U.S. and Mexico after U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee in Amarillo, Texas, ordered the policy be reinstated, subject to Mexico’s participation.
The policy’s new iteration, outlined for reporters by Biden administration officials who spoke on the condition that they not be named, includes major additions and changes that Mexico demanded.
All migrants subject to the policy will be vaccinated against COVID-19. Adults will get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot. Children who are eligible under U.S. guidelines will get the Pfizer shot, with second shots when they come to the U.S. for their first hearings.
The U.S. will try to complete cases within 180 days, a response to Mexico’s concerns that they will languish. The Justice Department is assigning 22 immigration judges to work on these cases exclusively.
U.S. authorities will ask migrants if they fear being returned to Mexico instead of relying on them to raise concerns unprompted. If the migrants express fear, they will be screened and have 24 hours to find an attorney or representative.
Migrants will have an opportunity to meet with attorneys before each hearing. The State Department is working with Mexico on locations for video and phone access to attorneys in the U.S.
The changes mirror many conditions that Mexico laid out last week. Mexico also said “vulnerable” people should be exempt, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, physically or mentally ill people, older people, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ community.
“The Mexican government reaffirms its commitment to migrant rights as well as to safe, orderly, regulated migration,” Mexico’s foreign relations secretary said in a statement Thursday confirming that the country accepted the Biden administration’s changes and additions.
Blas Nuñez-Neto, acting homeland security assistant secretary for border and immigration policy, said in a court filing Thursday that the administration shares Mexico’s concerns.
Mexico is also seeking money from the U.S. for shelters and other organizations to substantially increase support for migrants waiting in Mexico.
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Last month, the judge denied his request to declare the Biden administration was flouting the court order.
Paxton and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt urged the judge to force the federal government “to live up to their duties by following the blueprint they previously followed.”
“The objectively unreasonable delays in implementing even a portion of (the policy) demonstrate their lack of good faith,” they wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this article