Remain in Mexico

"Remain in Mexico" is the common name for the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a policy announced by the Trump administration in December 2018 and implemented in 2019. Under it, certain non-Mexican nationals who sought asylum at the southern border were returned to Mexico to wait for their U.S. immigration court hearings, instead of being released into the United States.

The administration said the policy would end catch and release and deter weak claims; by early 2021, tens of thousands of people had been returned, many living in crowded border camps in dangerous conditions with limited access to lawyers. Human-rights groups documented kidnappings and violence against people waiting. The Biden administration suspended the program in January 2021 and tried to end it, but a federal court in Texas ordered it reinstated, and in Biden v. Texas (2022), the Supreme Court held that the administration could end it, with additional litigation afterward.

Supporters argue that the policy reduced border crossings and fraudulent claims and that it was important for control; opponents argue that it violated obligations to protect refugees and exposed migrants to harm and that it depended on Mexico's cooperation. It is one of several tools used at the border, along with credible-fear screening and humanitarian parole.