Whereas, In general, under section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), if an immigration officer determines that an alien seeking admission to the United States “is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted,” then the alien “shall be detained” for formal removal proceedings. However, under section 235(b)(2)(C) of the INA, if such an alien “is arriving on land . . . from a foreign territory contiguous to the United States, the Attorney General may return the alien to that territory” pending formal removal proceedings. Aliens may also be “parole[d] into the United States temporarily . . . for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit” under section 212(d)(5)(A), but “only on a case-by-case basis”; and
Whereas, On December 20, 2018, the Trump Administration announced that that it would begin invoking section 235(b)(2)(C) of the INA to help address the illegal immigration crisis at our southern border. The Secretary of Homeland Security stated that, pursuant to this authority, “individuals arriving in or entering the United States from Mexico—illegally or without proper documentation—may be returned to Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings.” It was predicted that this would have the effect of deterring non-meritorious asylum claims, which would help our nation process its enormous backlog of asylum cases. This Trump Administration program was named the Migrant Protection Protocols, and it came to be referred to as the Remain in Mexico program; and
Whereas, Implementation of the Remain in Mexico program began on or about January 28, 2019. Under this program, U.S. Customs and Border Protection exercised prosecutorial discretion to decide whether to process aliens under the Remain in Mexico program or other procedures, such as expedited removal. Aliens processed under the Remain in Mexico program would be placed in formal removal proceedings, given a Notice to Appear in immigration court, and returned to Mexico to await their court date. The government of Mexico cooperated with this program, authorizing the entry of these individuals into Mexico and allowing them to apply for work permits; and
Whereas, Immediately upon assuming office, President Biden began taking steps to unwind and eventually terminate the Remain in Mexico program. On January 20, 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it was suspending new enrollments in the program; on February 2, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to review the Remain in Mexico program and determine whether to terminate or modify the program; and on February 19, 2021, DHS began bringing individuals waiting in Mexico under the program into the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security issued a memorandum officially terminating the Remain in Mexico program on June 1, 2021, and, after certain legal challenges to that decision were resolved, the program ended in August 2022. In December 2022, a federal district court stayed the termination of the program, holding that the Biden Administration had likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act by making an arbitrary and capricious decision, but, despite this court order, the Remain in Mexico program has not been reimplemented; and
Whereas, Remain in Mexico is an important policy that would help secure our southern border. As was acknowledged in the Biden Administration’s October 29, 2021, memorandum explaining the termination of the program, this policy likely contributed to a decrease in migration flows. After DHS announced that the Remain in Mexico program would be implemented along the entire southwest border in June 2019, the number of apprehensions of migrants along the southwest border decreased dramatically; and
Whereas, The migration crisis along our southwest land border has only intensified in recent years, prompting grave concerns about our national security. Border patrol agents have been overwhelmed, dealing with well over two million encounters with migrants along the southwest land border in each of fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2023. Since U.S. immigration authorities do not have the resources to detain every migrant encountered at the border, migrants are instead released en masse under INA section 212(d)(5)(A), on “humanitarian parole.” In order to secure our border, stop the flow of drugs from Mexican cartels, and protect our homeland, we need to reinstate the Remain in Mexico program; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the President of the United States to reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the Remain in Mexico program, for processing migrants, including asylum-seekers, attempting to enter the United States from Mexico; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States and the United States Secretary of Homeland Security.
Co-sponsored by Reps.
Referred to the Committee on Government Operations
