For Immediate Release
October 18, 2021
Contact: Lorena Bourdevaire
213-341-0478; lbcasillas@immdef.org
LOS ANGELES The Biden administration announced Friday that they intend to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) as soon as November. The policy introduced by President Trump has left tens of thousands of asylum seekers vulnerable to kidnapping, rape, and other human rights abuses.
The Remain in Mexico policy was inhumane under the Trump administration and it’s just as inhumane today as the Biden administration is choosing to reimplement it.This decision is simply unacceptable. Seeking asylum is a human right. Restarting MPP violates both US and international law and is an inhumane, ineffective, and cruel policy.
During his presidential campaign, President Biden promised to restore U.S. asylum and let racial justice guide his policies. Instead, his administration has abused, detained, expelled and denied protection to thousands of migrants and asylum seekers.
“Failing to terminate the Remain in Mexico policy will directly lead to the loss of human lives. There is no humane way to force asylum seekers to wait in deadly conditions when they seek protection at our border,” says Lindsay Toczylowski, Immigrant Defenders Co-Founder and Executive Director.
Instead of showing that this Administration values immigrant lives, President Biden has decided to continue with a policy that has already demonstrated to be a failure, Margaret Cargioli, Immigrant Defenders’ Managing Attorney explains.
"There is an arsenal of evidence that MPP is a human rights failure. This policy has not only caused harm to thousands of people but also strips asylum seekers of their due process rights. MPP cannot abide by U.S. and international law, it cannot be more humane, it cannot be just. Its main purpose is to place vulnerable people in dangerous situations with the hope of banishing them from our borders. Any version of this deadly policy is fundamentally unacceptable.”
Despite this setback, ImmDef will continue to advocate for a fair and orderly system, where no one is turned away at our borders nor denied their right to seek asylum from the interior of the United States.
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) is a next-generation social justice law firm that defends our immigrant communities against injustices in the legal system. We envision a future where no immigrant will be forced to face an unjust immigration court alone. Our programs are a first step towards the long-term goal of providing universal representation to all immigrants facing deportation. ImmDef is now the largest non‐profit, pro bono provider of deportation defense in California with offices in Los Angeles, Adelanto, Riverside, Santa Ana, and San Diego.