Thursday’s announcement by the Biden administration was that it had reached a settlement with Mexico to restore a Trump-era policy which required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico until they were granted an immigration hearing.

On Monday, the program will resume at one border point and eventually will include seven entry points including San Diego, El Paso, Brownsville and San Diego. NBC News reported.

This policy was first implemented in 2019Former President Donald Trump, amid an increase of Central American families crossing over the Southwest border. Since 2019, approximately 70,000 migrants were returned to Mexico as a result of the new policy. according to the American Immigration Council.

President Joe Biden suspended the policy on his first day in office, citing the violence migrants faced waiting in Mexico for their court hearings, and formally ended it in June,

The program’s suspension was a matter of concern for the Republican-led Texas, Missouri and Nevada states. A federal judge in the Northern District of Texas decided to support the states, and ordered that the administration reinstate the policy until the result of the suit. The Supreme Court blocked the administration’s efforts to repeal the policy.

The U.S. and Mexico have been working together since then to restore the controversial program.

The Department of Homeland Security stated in a press release that “key modifications” would be made to policy to address both humanitarian concerns from the Mexican and U.S governments.

Under the updated policy, the U.S. will attempt to close immigration court proceedings in six months. In the past, immigrants who had to comply with this policy would wait for several months to get to see an immigration judge.

A Department of Homeland Security press release stated that adult migrants would be eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccinations. However, vaccinations will not be mandatory.

U.S. policy will provide legal representation for migrants before and during immigration court hearings. There will be shelters that are safe and secure available to those who stay in Mexico.

These modifications address various humanitarian concerns that the Mexican government had raised about the policy of “Remain in Mexico”. The Mexican government had asked the U.S. for more speedy immigration court proceedings and additional resources to assist migrants.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry stated in a press release that “The Government of Mexico reiterates its importance of strengthening cooperation for development to address the root cause of migration.” It also reiterates its goal to implement a migration policy that protects the rights of migrants in order for the region’s migration process to be safe, regular, and orderly.

Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary, has also attempted to stop the program. issued a memo in OctoberThey also expressed concern about humanitarian aspects of the policy. 

According to the memo, which was four pages long, he claimed it caused “substantial human and unjustifiable costs” to thousands of migrants waiting in Mexico. He also said that the system “failed to provide fair processes and humanitarian protections that all people deserve.” 

Mayorkas pointed out that immigrants sent to Mexico as part of the program have faced “extreme violence, insecurity,” at the hands transnational criminal organisations.

According to Human Rights First, at most 1,544 cases of kidnapping and rape were publicly documented against people sent home under the MPP from February 2021.  Numerous people died, some of them children, after they were sent back to Mexico as part of the MPP policy.

Human Rights First stated that “Remaining in Mexico” and similar policies, which flout international asylum laws and treaties is inhumane. in a press release. They deliver those seeking protection every day to areas where they face brutal attacks, kidnappings, and corruption by corrupt Mexican officers and deadly cartels.

While the Biden government is under severe criticism for how it handled the Mexican crisis, the biden administration has seen the reinstatement of “Remain in Mexico”. highest number of migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border in two decades. 

Republican legislators have criticised Biden’s lack of hardline immigration policy. They accuse him of encouraging open borders and falsely asserting that immigrants are driving Covid-19.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), for example, said Fox News on SundayThe U.S.-Mexico frontier remains open “as it has ever been”. He urged the Biden administration immediately to relaunch the “Remain In Mexico” program.

For not revoking the brutal immigration policies of former President Barack Obama, the administration was also attacked by progressive Democrats and advocates for immigration reform.

Particularly, they condemned Trump’s second Trump-era policy of Title 42. This policy permits the swift expulsion of immigrants from the U.S., without any opportunity for them to apply for asylum.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Title 42 was maintained until any danger exists that non-U.S. citizens could bring Covid-19 into the United States. The health law does not apply to unaccompanied children. 

Biden’s administration defended its use of Title 42 on several occasions.

Mayorkas called Title 42 “Centers for Disease Control public Health Authority” and “immigration Policy,” claiming that it is justified in the face of pandemics.

Mayorkas stated that “we view it as an imperative public health as the Centers for Disease Control have so ordered”. Mayorkas spoke to a October interview. Yahoo News.