According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics which are current as of October 14, there were 55,072 law enforcement encounters in the Rio Grande Valley area in September alone, as well as 43,570 in the Del Rio area, 8,605 in the of Laredo, 2,574 in the Big Bend area and 17,815 in the El Paso area.
In fiscal year 2021, which saw more than 1.7 million border arrests in the southwestern United States, there were 549,077 arrests in the Rio Grande Valley area, 259,294 encounters with law enforcement in the Del Rio area, 112,241 in the Laredo, 37,266 in the Big Bend area and 193,918 in the El Paso area.
The stay in Mexico policy was launched by the Trump administration in early 2019 and was on the Billot when President Biden took office as part of his campaign promise to ease the country’s immigration policies.
When instituted, the MPP was defined by DHS as “a U.S. government action whereby certain aliens entering or seeking admission to the United States from Mexico – illegally or without proper documentation – may be returned to the Mexico and wait outside the United States for the duration of their immigration process, where Mexico will provide them with all appropriate humanitarian protections for the duration of their stay.”
After Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued the Biden administration in April, Federal Judge Matthew J. Kaczmaryk of Amarillo finally ordered the federal government to bring back the policy of staying in Mexico. In August, the Supreme Court declined a call of Kaczmaryk’s decision.
While the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is would have Planned to reintroduce the program next month, its reinstatement depends on the cooperation of President Andrés Manual López Obrador and the Mexican government.
The DHS released a Press release end of September, indicating that he would draft new documents ending the migrant protection protocols that would hopefully satisfy the courts.
“In the meantime, while the court injunction remains in effect, the Department has worked in good faith to restart the MPP in accordance with the order, and it will continue to do so,” the press release said.
“To that end, the Department, in conjunction with the Department of State, is engaged in ongoing, high-level diplomatic discussions with Mexico. Simultaneously, the Department has instituted an inter-agency task force to effectively rebuild the infrastructure and redistribute the personnel that will be needed to restart the MPP once this agreement is secured.
Former Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s handling of illegal immigration, pointed to the fact that the federal government is virtually delegating whether the US border will be secured to another country.
“Make no mistake, under President Trump we have taken the position, which I think is the right position, we don’t need another country’s permission to secure our borders and enforce our laws on immigration,” Morgan said in a recent border security conference with Republican US senators.
“So first and foremost is the position we’ve taken, the position of strength and the position of leverage. Part of the important reason why Mexico agreed to cooperate is the threat of tariffs, make no mistake about it, and this administration […] gave every ounce of that day one leverage with the stroke of a political pen.
Incredulous that Biden officials claim to restore the program in good faith while actively fighting it in court, Morgan remarked, “They are handing it over to a foreign country to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws and that is the opposite thing to do and that’s why I’m skeptical and I don’t think it’s going to happen full force like we did under the Trump administration.
Mexican officials are pushing back on reinstating the MPP, adding various stipulations to their cooperation, such as a roughly six-month deadline for asylum applications, according to The Associated Press. reported earlier this month.
Opponents of the policy believe it worsens humanitarian problems by forcing individuals to remain in unsafe and unsanitary conditions near the US-Mexico border instead of allowing them to be granted admission to the United States while they wait.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was would have prepared DHS for the possibility of up to 400,000 illegal crossings in October if the worst happens.
