Menendez Presses the Biden-Harris Administration to Swiftly Revoke Inhumane Remain in Mexico Policy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez D-N.J.) issued the following statement in response to reports that the Biden-Harris Administration will restart the Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy to comply with a court order:

“While I understand the Administration is resuming the Remain in Mexico policy to comply with a court order, I am deeply concerned that they are overseeing an expansion of this inhumane policy and implementing the court’s order before critical safeguards are in place. By adding new nationalities to this policy, applying Remain-in-Mexico border-wide, and limiting access to counsel to a mere 24-hours before individuals and entire families are returned to Mexico, the Administration is going far beyond a good-faith implementation of the court’s order. 180-days in Mexico is too long for a vulnerable asylum seeker to be subjected to this dangerous policy.”

“We have a moral obligation to do everything possible to swiftly and permanently discard this policy, along with the many other remaining Trump-era policies that were willfully designed to deter immigrants with cruelty. We cannot externalize our asylum system and abandon our obligations as a beacon of hope and opportunity. We urge the Biden-Harris Administration to make every effort to reduce the harm of this court order and ensure the end of this xenophobic and anti-immigrant policy for good.”

Earlier this year, Sen. Menendez led a bicameral letter urging President Biden to take all necessary legal steps to address concerns outlined by the Supreme Court in its recent decision regarding MPP and ultimately terminate the policy. Last year, at the request of Sen. Menendez as the then-Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the committee’s Democratic staff published a report on the global forced migration crisis, which in part recommended it was necessary to terminate policies such as Remain in Mexico in order for the United States to be in a position to improve efforts to address forced migration. Since the implementation of the program, Sen. Menendez has consistently led his Senate Democratic colleagues in demanding that the Trump Administration end its use of the Remain in Mexico policy.