CNN, Reuters: Get ready for the return of ... Remain in Mexico?

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

After nine months in office, Joe Biden finally has a plan for the border crisis!

Aaaaaand …. it’s Donald Trump’s:

The Biden administration is preparing to revive in mid-November a Trump-era border policy that forces migrants to stay in Mexico until their US immigration court date, according to administration officials, putting it on track to implement another controversial policy at the US southern border.

The timeline, administration officials cautioned, is contingent on Mexico and whether it agrees to accept those enrolled in the program.

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What makes this even more amusing is that Biden had fought all the way to the Supreme Court to put an end to the Remain in Mexico policy. A federal court ruled in August that his policy change violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Supreme Court refused to take up the White House challenge. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, I guess, but … wasn’t Biden complaining about how inhumane this policy was until a hot second ago?

CNN isn’t the only one reporting on the Biden flip-flop. Reuters also alerts its readers about the policy’s return, noting that the administration is, um, also trying to cancel it. At the same time:

President Joe Biden’s administration is taking steps to restart by mid-November a program begun under his predecessor Donald Trump that forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings after a federal court deemed the termination of the program unjustified, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The administration, however, is planning to make another attempt to rescind the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), commonly called the “Remain in Mexico” policy, even as it takes steps to comply with the August ruling by Texas-based U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, the officials said.

The possible reinstatement of MPP – even on a short term basis – would add to a confusing mix of U.S. policies in place at Mexican border, where crossings into the United States have reached 20-year-highs in recent months. The administration said it can only move forward if Mexico agrees. Officials from both countries said they are discussing the matter. …

The administration has said it will comply with Kacsmaryk’s ruling “in good faith” while continuing its appeal in the case. The administration also plans to issue a fresh memo to terminate the program in the hopes it will resolve any legal concerns surrounding the previous one, officials said.

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So in other words, the Biden administration is being forced to comply with the court order, but they want to leave themselves one big out. They want Mexico to balk at it in order to get around the court order, which is why the target date for the re-implementation has been pushed off to “mid-November.” By signaling to Mexico that the plan relies on their agreement — and Mexico never did like the policy, only agreeing to it after Trump’s economic pressure left them little choice — they’re giving Mexico a veto that Biden and his team can use to explain non-compliance to the federal court.

But hey, at least Biden came up with a plan for the border crisis. It’s a stupid, time-wasting plan, but a plan nonetheless.

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David Strom 3:30 PM | December 05, 2024
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