As part of his effort to reduce illegal immigration and crack down on fraudulent asylum claims, President Donald Trump’s administration developed a new program called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), more commonly known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which took direct aim at the previous policy of “catch and release” that allowed asylum-seekers to enter the country while awaiting a hearing on their claims.
Recent reports and new data suggest that the new policy has been quite effective in that thousands of migrants have now abandoned their asylum claims and returned to their home countries upon realizing that, unlike before, they won’t be allowed to enter the U.S. and simply disappear into the interior of the country while their claims are adjudicated.
Targeting fraudulent asylum claims
Fox News reported that the MPP program was initially implemented in January 2019 and has since been expanded several times — especially following a cooperative agreement reached with Mexico in June — to include more ports of entry and establish more temporary immigration courts along the border.
The program, introduced near the peak of the southern border crisis and purposely designed to counter the prior “catch and release” policy, has helped contribute to a significant reduction — of more than 60% — in border apprehensions of illegal aliens and of migrants fraudulently seeking asylum.
It has also served to help streamline the process by which asylum claims are adjudicated, often reducing the overall timeline of entry to final determination down to a handful of months rather than several years.
“An indispensable tool”
A formal assessment of the program released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has now revealed that more than 55,000 aliens have been returned to Mexico as part of the program since it was first implemented.
The DHS assessment claimed that “MPP has been an indispensable tool in addressing the ongoing crisis at the southern border and restoring integrity to the immigration system.”
Of those 55,000+ migrants who have been returned to Mexico to await adjudication of their claims, nearly 13,000 cases have been completed and a final determination rendered, with a small subset granted asylum or other protections while the majority were returned to their nation of origin. About 900 of those in the MPP participated in the expenses-paid Assisted Voluntary Return program that aids them in their journey home.
There remain roughly 20,000 aliens still sheltered in Mexico awaiting the completion of their cases, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB). Simple math suggests that several thousand of those who were entered into the program — perhaps as many as 15,000-20,000 — have simply abandoned their claims and voluntarily returned to their home country or found somewhere else to stay in Mexico.
Vindication for Trump
The MPP program has been described as a “game-changer” by Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan, who surmised that the program has reduced one of the primary “pull factors” drawing people north and convinced a significant number of asylum-seekers that they will never be granted legal entry into the country and will eventually return home. Those who do go back will likely bear a message to others that things are different now, and the journey north toward the border is no longer worth the trouble.
“We’re now sending the message that, if you’re coming here as an economic migrant, you’re not going to be allowed into the United States,” Morgan told reporters recently. “That’s driving a lot of people to return.”
Once again, despite all of the media controversy and contrived concerns from the president’s opponents about the MPP program, it has been proven effective at reducing illegal immigration, cutting fraudulent asylum claims, and helping streamline an overburdened immigration court system.
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