Federal judge orders Biden administration to reinstate Remain-in-Mexico policy

AP Photo/Gregory Bull

A federal District Court Judge ruled that the Biden administration must reinstate the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program Friday. This is seen as a huge win for border security if the decision stands. The order does not go into effect for seven days so that the federal government has time to file an emergency appeal.

Advertisement

Rest assured, the judge’s order will be appealed. Matthew Kacsmaryk, a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, was nominated by Trump, for those keeping score at home. When Joe Biden came into office he scrapped the successful policies of the Trump administration on the southern border, including the MPP program, also known as the Remain-In-Mexico program. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration in April to get the MPP program reinstated. The Biden administration officially ended the program in June. By the end of June, DHS announced that those seeking asylum with closed cases would be allowed a second chance to cross the border and enter the U.S. anyway.

When Paxton filed the lawsuit, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined the lawsuit. The pair argued MPP reduced detention and enforcement burdens for the DHS and other enforcement agencies. Schmitt, now running for the U.S. Senate, claims that a major focus of his office is human trafficking and the Remain-in-Mexico program helps stop the flow of women and child victims of that crime. He noted that human trafficking victims find themselves in states like Missouri after they have been taken across the southern border. Schmitt said that the judge’s order will help with both border security and combat human trafficking.

Advertisement

The judge agreed that both Texas and Missouri had received fiscal injury with the cancelation of MPP. In other words, he acknowledged the financial burden that illegal migration creates for states dealing with the Biden border crisis.

The judge also ordered the government to file a monthly report beginning in September that includes total monthly encounters at the border, the number of people expelled, total detention capacity, and total monthly number of applicants, among other things.

Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, said suspending the MPP has caused “fiscal injury” to Missouri and Texas, pointing specifically to costs associated with health care, education, and enforcement and correctional services.

The offices of Paxton and Schmitt declared victory Friday.

Advertisement

This order comes at a rather awkward time for the Biden administration. Also on Friday, a leaked audio recording of a meeting DHS Secretary Mayorkas had with law enforcement on the ground in the Rio Grande Valley produced acknowledgment from him that the situation on the border is “unsustainable”. Yes, Mayorkas finally visited the Rio Grande Valley, the epicenter of the Biden border crisis. Between the reality on the ground and the release of the July numbers on illegal immigration, Mayorkas was not having a good day.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is named in the lawsuit, has come under fire from Republicans after leaked audio surfaced of him calling the situation at the border “unsustainable” while speaking to Border Patrol agents. Authorities made more than 212,000 apprehensions at the border in July, a 13 percent increase from June, he has publicly said.

The judge’s order is 53 pages long. The Biden administration will appeal it because they are still unwilling to admit failure in their actions along the southern border. Biden has created a humanitarian and public health crisis of record proportions all because he wants to prove he is not Trump. Unfortunately for Biden, Trump was able to produce successful policies and got illegal immigration along the southern border under control. Secretary Mayorkas continues to act as though the administration has everything under control. The numbers don’t lie.

Advertisement

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement