The “Migrant Protection Protocols”: an Explanation of the Remain in Mexico Program - How the Migrant Protection Protocols Were Carried Out

The “Migrant Protection Protocols”: an Explanation of the Remain in Mexico Program In December 2018, the Trump administration announced the creation of a new program called the “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP 1.0)1—often referred to as the “Remain in Mexico” program. [...] 3 The government of Mexico has since indicated that it opposes any attempt by the United States to restart a similar program in the future.4 Under MPP, individuals who arrived at the southern border and asked for asylum (either at a port of entry or after crossing the border between ports of entry) were given notices to appear in immigration court and sent back to Mexico.5 They were instructed to. [...] For example, some families who crossed the border near Yuma, Arizona, were transported by CBP to the Calexico port of entry hundreds of miles away to be returned to Mexico.14 Similarly, individuals who crossed in the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector were transported hundreds of miles and sent back to Mexico in El Paso.15 In San Diego and El Paso, individuals who returned for court hearings arrived. [...] Individuals sent to the Laredo or Brownsville courts had to reside or pass through the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which the State Department has classified as the same level of danger as Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.41 Many asylum seekers and families were kidnapped and assaulted after having been sent back to Mexico, sometimes within hours of crossing back over the border.42 According to Human. [...] The initial returns under MPP 2.0 occurred in El Paso, expanded across the border by February 2022.79 Unlike in the first iteration of MPP, individuals were not eligible for MPP 2.0 if they sought asylum at a port of entry, because Title 42 remained in effect and the ports of entry were shut to asylum seekers at the time.80 The first 200 individuals placed into MPP 2.0 in El Paso in December 2021.