On June 1, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memorandum officially terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico policy.
In January 2021, Milbank had filed an amicus brief in partnership with a coalition of immigrant and children’s rights organizations urging the US Supreme Court to end MPP. Introduced by the Trump Administration in 2018, the policy has forced more than 70,000 asylum-seekers, including thousands of vulnerable children, to remain in dangerous conditions in Mexico while awaiting hearings on their asylum claims. On January 20, 2021, the Biden Administration suspended new enrollments in MPP pending further review of the program, and filed a consent motion to hold further briefing in abeyance and remove the case from the Court’s February 2021 argument calendar. The Court granted the motion.
Several months later, DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas determined that MPP was inconsistent with the Biden Administration’s vision and values for migrant management and humanitarian protection. “MPP does not adequately or sustainably enhance border management in such a way as to justify the program’s extensive operational burdens and other shortfalls,” Secretary Mayorkas states in the memorandum. “[T]he United States is both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, committed to increasing access to justice and offering protection to people fleeing persecution and torture through an asylum system that reaches decisions in a fair and timely manner.” Following this decision, on June 21, the US Supreme Court granted DHS’s motion to vacate the judgment of the Ninth Circuit, and remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit with instructions to direct the district court to vacate as moot its April 8, 2019, order granting a preliminary injunction barring DHS from continuing to implement or expand MPP. The Court denied as moot a motion to intervene filed by the States of Texas, Missouri and Arizona.
Milbank’s amicus brief was filed in collaboration with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, Kids in Need of Defense, Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley, Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago, School of Law, Children’s Defense Fund, First Focus on Children, Save the Children Action Network and Save the Children.
The Milbank pro bono team was led by senior consulting partner Linda Dakin-Grimm and partner Mark Shinderman, with associates Gary Crosby, Will Denker, Katie Cavins and Monica Grover.
“It was clear that MPP did not consider the best interests of asylum-seekers – especially children, who are most vulnerable,” says Mark Shinderman. “The policy turned the system on its head, essentially preventing immigration officers from hearing the credible fears of asylum-seeking children and their families before sending them to dangerous conditions in Mexico to await their immigration proceedings without meaningful access to counsel. We are gratified that we were able to be a voice for those most in need.”
