The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), otherwise known as Remain in Mexico, has been dealt a blow by the U.S. Supreme Court, which yesterday sided with the Biden administration in its effort to rescind the policy, originated by President Trump. The decision was split 5-4, however, and one dissenting opinion, by Justice Samuel Alito, suggested the rescission might still be in question and could eventually be found “arbitrary and capricious.”
Biden has been trying to abolish MPP–along with all other Trump policies–throughout his tenure, but had been thwarted in this case by a lower court on the grounds that his efforts violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The SCOTUS ruling yesterday, last of this season’s decisions, decreed that the INA had not been violated, seemingly opening the door for final MPP rescission.
The case is not over, however, as the Court sent the case back down to a federal court in Texas to consider additional arguments. In the meantime, Biden must wait a few weeks for the judgment to be officially issued, after which he can again attempt to abolish the policy. The states of Texas and other partners to the suit at that point could renew the fight to keep it in place.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told a television audience after the ruling:
It’s not over. We’re basically starting over and you can look at the dissent from Alito and it kind of gives some signposts as to the direction that we probably need to go.
All this is being cast as a huge win for the administration, but in actuality MPP has had negligible effect on illegal migration under Biden. In May, for example, more than 230,000 illegals were encountered. Of these, only 1,460 migrants were returned to Mexico under MPP, while 100,000 were expelled using the CDC’s Title 42, which remains in effect.
It should be noted that the remainder–the lion’s share–were admitted, clearly the administration’s preference.
For more, see Breitbart.