拜登政府周五表示，将再次尝试结束“留在墨西哥”协议，这是特朗普政府的一项举措，迫使数万名寻求庇护者返回墨西哥边境城镇，等待他们在美国出庭的日期。
政府一直受到移民倡导团体的压力，要求终止这项政策，但却遇到了法律障碍。
在宣布之前的一次简报会上，国土安全部官员告诉记者，他们已经重新评估了这项政策，也称为移民保护协议，部长亚历杭德罗·马约尔卡斯再次确定，尽管承认这项政策对减少未经授权的移民有影响，但结束这项政策是适当的。一名官员指出，多种因素会推动移民，但根据该部自己的评估，这些协议在阻止越境企图方面是有效的。
一名DHS官员表示:“从2019年的数据来看，从在整个边境实施边境保护计划开始，在陆地边境遭遇的情况明显减少了。”。“也就是说，你知道，相关性不一定是因果关系。”
然而，官员们表示，人道主义后果超过了减少非法入境的潜在好处。人道主义组织记录了高谋杀率、绑架率和勒索率，以及那些“留在墨西哥”的人所面临的恶劣条件
一份给DHS官员的新政策备忘录通过考虑各州的潜在成本以及MPP可能做出的潜在改进，更深入地探讨了决策过程。然而，官员们坚持认为，某些关于回国移民跨越国际边界的问题将持续存在。移民倡导组织主要关注被遣返的移民无法获得法律服务。
一名DHS官员表示:“一旦个人越过国际边界被遣返，一旦他们被另一个主权国家控制，美国能够影响他们的安全和安保的机会就很有限了。”。
承认MPP的威慑能力是对拜登政府的重大让步。几个月来，共和党人一直谴责政府废除“留在墨西哥”，称这一决定是边境逮捕人数创纪录的背后驱动力。
拜登上任的第一天就暂停了“留在墨西哥”的计划，美国务卿马约尔卡斯试图在6月份正式结束这一计划。一名联邦法官命令拜登政府恢复去年8月的协议，以回应德克萨斯州和密苏里州的法律挑战。司法部继续反对该命令，并希望上诉法院撤销该命令或将该决定发回地区法院。
地区法院的恢复令中包含一项建议，即政府需要能够拘留每一名试图非法入境的移民，或者让他们“留在墨西哥”MPP是特朗普政府在2019年实施的，正如DHS官员指出的那样，国会从未提供足够的资金来拘留每一名未经授权的移民。
民主党参议员鲍勃·梅嫩德斯从一开始就批评“留在墨西哥”，他称赞拜登政府再次试图废除协议。
梅嫩德斯说:“我真诚地希望，国土安全部的这份新备忘录将符合必要的法律标准，一劳永逸地撤销这一仇外政策，并允许我们的国家继续努力恢复我们作为寻求庇护者的希望灯塔的地位，为他们所爱的人提供更好的生活，并为我们的国家做出贡献。”。
政府继续这种做法的能力在很大程度上依赖于墨西哥政府的合作，墨西哥政府最初反对这一想法，但后来考虑了恢复这一想法的条件。DHS官员说，与墨西哥官员的会谈正在进行中。
根据墨西哥政府是否同意，拜登政府有望在11月中旬之前恢复“留在墨西哥”。口头辩论定于11月2日在第五巡回上诉法院进行。
Biden admin makes another attempt to end 'Remain in Mexico' policy
The Biden administration on Friday said it would make another attempt to end the "Remain in Mexico" protocols, a Trump administration initiative that forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers back into Mexican border towns to await their court dates in the U.S.
The administration has been under pressure from immigrant advocacy groups to end the policy but has met with legal roadblocks.
In a briefing before the announcement, Department of Homeland Security officials told reporters they had reassessed the policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once again determined it was appropriate to end it despite acknowledging its impact in reducing unauthorized migration. One official pointed out that multiple factors can drive migration, but based on the department's own assessment, the protocols had been effective in deterring border crossing attempts.
"In looking at the data from 2019, there is a fairly clear reduction in encounters at the land border starting around the time that the MPP was implemented across the entire border," one DHS official said. "That said, you know, correlation is not necessarily causation."
However, the officials said the humanitarian consequences outweigh the potential benefits of reduced illegal entries. Humanitarian organizations have documented high rates of murder, kidnapping and extortion on top of squalid conditions facing those subjected to "Remain in Mexico."
A new policy memo to DHS officials dives deeper into the decision-making process by considering potential costs to states as well as potential improvements that could be made to MPP. However, the officials maintained that certain issues with returning migrants back across an international boundary will persist. Immigrant advocacy organizations have been principally concerned with the lack of access to legal services for migrants who are sent back.
"Once individuals are returned across an international border, there's limited opportunities for the United States to be able to affect their safety and security once they're in the control of another sovereign nation," one DHS official said.
The acknowledgement of MPP's deterrence capabilities is a significant concession for the Biden administration. For months, Republicans have condemned the administration for repealing "Remain in Mexico," citing the decision as a driving force behind the record number of arrests at the border.
Biden suspended "Remain in Mexico" on his first day in office and Secretary Mayorkas attempted to officially end it in June. A federal judge ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the protocols last August in response to a legal challenge by the state of Texas and Missouri. The Justice Department continues to fight the order and hopes an appellate court will reverse it or remand the decision back to the district court.
Embedded in the district court's order to reinstate was a suggestion that the administration needs to be capable of either detaining every migrant who attempts an illegal entry or subject them to "Remain in Mexico." MPP was implemented by the Trump administration in 2019 and, as DHS officials point out, Congress has never provided enough funds to detain every unauthorized migrant.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a critic of "Remain in Mexico" from the start, praised the Biden administration for making another attempt at repealing the protocols.
"It is my sincere hope that this new memorandum from the Department of Homeland Security will meet the necessary legal criteria to revoke this xenophobic policy once and for all, and allow our country to continue working to restore our status as a beacon of hope for those seeking refuge, a better life for their loved ones, and a shot at contributing to our nation,” Menendez said.
Much of the administration's ability continue the practice relies on cooperation from the Mexican government, which was initially opposed to the idea, but has since considered conditions under which it could be reinstated. Talks with Mexican officials are ongoing, DHS officials said.
Depending on whether the Mexican government will agree, the Biden administration is on track to reinstate "Remain in Mexico" by mid-November. Oral arguments are scheduled in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 2.
