Washington, D.C. (June 30, 2022) - The Supreme Court's decision in the Remain in Mexico case leaves the main question unresolved.
The Court finds that the Biden administration may end the program (formerly known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP) and the lower court's injunction against it is invalid. The case now goes back to the circuit court to decide whether the program was terminated properly.
More important: The lower court also has to decide whether federal law's detention mandate for illegal border-crossers is really a mandate and whether DHS is violating the law by releasing most illegal aliens instead of detaining them.
In other words, the plaintiffs’ argument is that the law requires either detention or Remain in Mexico for border-jumpers, with the limited exception of parole in extraordinary cases. The Biden administration has made that exception the rule and is releasing almost all illegal border-crossers (who aren't expelled under Title 42, which it is also trying to end), and that is the central issue, still to be decided.
How these issues are decided is of great importance, given the unprecedented growth in the illegal population under the Biden administration. Census data suggests the illegal-alien population grew by 1.4 million since inauguration day 2021, while administrative data suggests the growth may be as large as 2 million. Ending Remain in Mexico, as well as the Title 42 orders, will only supercharge the flow of illegal immigration across the southern border (not to mention visa overstayers).
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Read more:
SCOTUS: Courts Cannot Enjoin Termination of MPP
Narrow MPP Ruling Punts on Real Question