By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on Aug. 24 that requires the Biden administration to reinstate the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy. This rule requires those seeking asylum to remain in Mexico while they await hearings on their requests for safe haven in the United States.

The court denied the Justice Department’s request to stay a district court’s injunction against former president Donald Trump’s 2018 Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), effectively ordering the current presidential administration to enforce the rule for now.

President Joe Biden’s administration “failed to show a likelihood of success on the claim that the memorandum rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols was not arbitrary and capricious,” the high court said in the order.

After taking office, Biden said he would not continue MPP while a review of the program was conducted.

But the states of Texas and Missouri disagreed. In April, the states’ attorneys general filed suit against Biden for repealing MPP.

They alleged this reversal would result in a surge of undocumented immigrants into their borders, a concern that has ultimately been realized in Texas.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Northern Texas District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled the Biden administration’s objections to the suit were “unpersuasive” and that repealing MPP was actively harming Texas and Missouri.

Kacsmaryk vacated a June 1 Department of Homeland Security memo officially ending MPP and ordered the program be enforced and implemented until it is “lawfully rescinded,” as well as until “the federal government has sufficient detention capacity to detain all aliens subject to mandatory detention.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling upholds Kacsmaryk’s decision.

The move is welcome to those who have been most impacted by the unprecedented flow of illegal immigrants, including Texas farmers and ranchers.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s order for the federal government to restore the previous administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy hopefully provides much-needed relief to communities and landowners on the border who have been overwhelmed with the unprecedented number of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S.,” Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) President Russell Boening said. “The decision is welcome news for Texas farmers and ranchers in the border region who are experiencing direct negative impacts from the border crisis.”

On a recent trip to the region, Farm Bureau leaders learned more about the crisis.

“Elected leaders and law enforcement officials along the Texas border said a pause in the immigration surge was desperately needed during a recent Farm Bureau informational trip to the region. It is hoped the return of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy will provide cities and counties a chance to recover from the unsustainable drain on local resources and services being used to respond to the crisis,” Boening said.

For more information on the impacts of the border crisis on farmers and ranchers in Texas, visit TFB’s webpage.