Washington, D.C.—The United States Supreme Court’s Tuesday refusal to stop a lower court ruling that would force the Biden Administration to reinstate President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy is dangerous and misguided. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) urges the administration to push back on the ruling and end this dangerous policy— also called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which forced thousands of asylum seekers to wait in life-threatening conditions in Mexico as their case was being processed in the United States—once and for all.
“This ruling puts children and families in the crosshairs of real threats to their safety, including targeted violence, kidnapping, sexual abuse, exploitation, and even death. Forcing those fleeing violence to wait in harm’s way is shortsighted and cruel,” said KIND President Wendy Young. “The Biden Administration must do everything in its power to overturn the lower court’s misguided order, to ensure that no migrants are placed in danger while the government complies with the preliminary injunction, and to take all necessary steps to end this dangerous and illegal policy once and for all. The U.S. asylum system and our international obligations demand the orderly and safe reception of asylum seekers at our borders.”
While unaccompanied children are technically exempt from MPP, the policy has resulted in many documented cases of family separation that left children traumatized and with reduced legal protections. Blocking orderly access to ports of entry for asylum-seeking adults and children reverberates throughout the immigration system and weakens the United States’ role as a leader in human rights and the protection of vulnerable refugees seeking safety.
Restarting Remain in Mexico will create additional challenges at the U.S.-Mexico border and undermine the administration’s attempts to both restore order and reestablish a fair and humanitarian U.S. immigration system.
Read KIND’s Resources on MPP:
Remain in Mexico: Unlawful and Unsafe for Children
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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990