Joe Biden, kicking and screaming all the way, has re-instituted the hugely successful Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), otherwise known as Return to Mexico, a much-despised policy of the Trump adminstration.
That policy, which requires asylum seekers to wait out their (usually bogus) petitions in Mexico rather than being released into the United States, was the primary tool used by President Trump in tamping down the border crisis he faced in 2019.
The policy succeeded. Apprehensions fell 30 percent during its first year, and throughout the period from January 2019 to January 2021, around 70,000 illegal migrants were returned to Mexico. In addition, the policy made possible the expediting of claims. More than half of all MPP cases were completed by February 2021. Not surprisingly, like all things Trump, Joe Biden hates MPP and promised in his campaign to abolish it immediately upon taking office.
In that, he has failed repeatedly, as a series of federal court decisions have blocked the policy’s cancelation and ultimately forced a limited resumption. In December, about 200 would-be asylees were returned to Mexico from the El Paso area. And on Wednesday of this week, exactly two–Colombian nationals–were returned to Tijuana from San Diego.
If this seems like the tiniest drop in the largest bucket, considering the thousands that have been admitted during the same period, you’re right. Yet polls show wide disapproval of Biden’s immigration policies, such as they are, and even usual anti-Trump organs such as the Bloomberg Editorial Board are saying things such as “Why ‘Remain in Mexico’ Is Worth Preserving.”
It may be that Joe Biden will continue to be forced to do what he loathes doing the most: the right thing.
For more, see CIS.org.