HIAS Welcomes MPP Termination Memo

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memo Friday re-terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The policy, also known as “Remain in Mexico,” was created in 2019 and forced many asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border to wait for their asylum hearings in unsafe conditions in Mexico, rather than in the United States.

The administration also petitioned the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to end the court injunction currently requiring good-faith implementation and enforcement of MPP. HIAS believes continuing any form of MPP is cruel and inhumane and believes the administration must use all tools at its disposal to fully rescind the program and make sure there is no version of MPP considered in the future.

“This termination memo is a welcome step toward ending the MPP program once and for all,” said HIAS’ policy counsel Andrew Geibel. “We appreciate the memo, which finally acknowledges the harm and damage that MPP did to our country’s asylum system and the individuals seeking safety in the United States. But the administration must see it through, and also end related programs like Title 42 which have effectively closed the border to asylum seekers.”

The memo examined the purported benefits of MPP, but said that the benefits were not justified, citing “substantial and unjustifiable human costs” and inherent problems with the program that “no amount of resources can sufficiently fix.”

Tens of thousands of people were affected by MPP and many suffered violent attacks and other human rights abuses in Mexico. Thousands of people are still suffering from the effects of MPP and continue to have their access to protection in the U.S. blocked.

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