U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court will consider Biden’s bid to end remain-in-Mexico policy for asylum-seekers
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether the Biden administration may end former President Donald Trump’s policy requiring asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are pending.
The Supreme Court set oral arguments for April in the case, Biden v. Texas. The cert petition, posted by SCOTUSblog, asks the high court to resolve two issues.
The first is whether federal law requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to continue the policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, because the government lacks capacity to detain all the migrants. The second is whether the DHS adequately explained its decision to end the policy.
A federal judge had cited both grounds when requiring the Trump administration policy to remain in place during litigation.
The policy came before the Supreme Court on an emergency motion in August 2021, when the justices refused to disturb the judge’s order. At that time, the Supreme Court cited likely success for the argument that rescission of the remain-in-Mexico program was arbitrary and capricious.
In October 2021, the DHS then provided a more comprehensive explanation for its decision to end the policy. The changes didn’t persuade the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans, which kept the remain-in-Mexico policy in place.
The challengers are the states of Texas and Missouri.
USA Today, Bloomberg Law, CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times have coverage of the cert grant.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “US reinstates remain-in-Mexico program to comply with court order, expands people affected”
