June 21 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dismissed as moot a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump’s immigration policy that has forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers to wait out their court dates in the United States in Mexico.
In one unsigned orderthe High Court remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals with instructions to declare it moot in light of President Joe Biden’s order to end the so-called “Stay in Mexico” program this month- this.
Judges have ruled that an April 2019 injunction granted by the appeals committee blocking the implementation of Trump’s migrant protection protocols is now moot, as is a request filed last month by the attorneys general of the Texas, Missouri and Arizona seeking to intervene in the case.
The lawsuit, known as Mayorkas v Innovation Lab Law, targeted the policy that migrants seeking asylum in the United States were required to remain in Mexico pending a decision on their claim.
Civil rights and immigration groups sued the Department of Homeland Security over the policy, which they said subjected children and adults to serious harm, such as kidnapping and rape, when they were forced to return to Mexico.
Biden’s administration ended the policy on June 1 after halting its implementation on his first day in office.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the end of the policy and said he had determined that it “did not adequately or sustainably improve border management” to justify its existence.
As part of this policy, border authorities ordered some 68,000 asylum seekers to return to Mexico.