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Last fall, the Department of Homeland Security  announcing the decision to end the . These protocols, established in early 2019 by former president Donald Trump, are better known collectively as the 鈥淩emain in Mexico鈥� policy. Essentially, it forced non-Mexican migrants wanting to enter the United States to stay in Mexico until their court date.

This is consistent with Trump鈥檚 鈥攐ne he touted while running for president and wholeheartedly embraced . He signed executive orders increasing border security and worked to actively undermine asylum, push more people into deportation proceedings, and . The MPP is one of a laundry list of items Trump implemented to target and harm immigrants in the United States.

In contrast, at the beginning of his presidency, President Joe Biden formally  (although he  some other anti-immigrant Trump-era policies). This move was a response to pressure from .

However, on Aug. 13, 2021, the  that the current administration violated federal law because of a technicality based on a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The judge, a Trump appointee, ordered the program to be restored.

Now, the Biden administration is trying to end this horrific piece of legislation for the second time. In late October, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas  recommending termination of the program based on the 鈥渟ubstantial and unjustifiable human costs鈥� on the migrants forced to remain in Mexico.

The MPP Is a Humanitarian Rights Violation

Mayorkas is right. The human rights violations arising from the MPP are well-documented. Making vulnerable people鈥攚ho have already endured immense hardship鈥攚ait for asylum protection is dangerous. The program began in January 2019, and for the two years it was in effect, almost  while their cases were pending. Of those 70,000 immigrants鈥攊ncluding 16,000 children and 500 infants鈥攁lmost 2,000 faced documented kidnappings, torture, rapes, and killings. These numbers are very likely an underestimate, and we may never know how many actual violations took place.

Additionally, these migrants  to humanitarian aid or health services, and they risk being deported to the unsafe country they just fled. The top nationalities of those seeking asylum include . Many of these northern Central American countries are . Roughly  in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala alone have fled to neighboring countries or been internally displaced, and not a day goes by without another story in the news about the poverty, starvation, and gang violence that faces the people of these nations. Most of these individuals and families likely have no options left.

Women migrants face additional pressures to flee. Many women leaving this region are fleeing gender-based violence鈥擡l Salvador and Honduras have Latin America鈥檚 , or the gender-based murders of women and girls over 15 years old. 

The  has only exacerbated these serious  via lockdowns, allowing  over food and medicine and to target people more easily. In addition, many individuals have lost their livelihoods because of the pandemic鈥檚 economic impact and faced health issues because of limited access to resources. Now is the time to eliminate the Migration Protection Protocols.

Immigration Has a Positive Effect on the Economy

Along with the moral and ethical obligations argument, immigration helps fuel the U.S. economy鈥攁 fact Republicans continue to dispute. Many Conservatives claim immigrants are a drain on resources, but numerous studies show that is not true. 

For example, the George W. Bush Institute (created by and named after a Republican president) highlights that when immigrants enter the labor force, it  of the economy and increases the nation鈥檚 gross domestic product. This is what is known as an 鈥渋mmigration surplus.鈥� One reason is because these workers are far more likely to hold jobs in sectors where native-born Americans choose not to work, like housekeeping or food service. In fact, native-born Americans may  rather than work in a repetitive low-wage job, but it is a huge damper to economic growth to have bottlenecks or shortages in these areas. 

Additionally, Republicans continue to claim that the MPP stemmed the migration of people without papers, but that is simply not true. In fact, , unrelated to the implementation of Trump鈥檚 policy. In 2016, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States  since 2004, long before Trump authorized the MPP in 2019.

The MPP Must Be Overturned

Things are a bit confusing right now in regard to the Migration Protection Protocols. In December 2021, the Biden administration was forced to  in compliance with the Texas v. Biden decision. However, later that month, President Biden  to allow the administration to terminate the program. At the same time, confusingly, it appears Biden is also  the program he hopes to terminate. As a consequence, thousands of people remain in limbo and are facing grave danger. 

 state the Supreme Court will likely not deliver a decision on the MPP before the end of June, leaving thousands of vulnerable people at risk. In the meantime鈥攊n another move in this tale of contradictions鈥攖he Biden administration has worked to make the program more , including increasing legal representation for asylum seekers, sending U.S. humanitarian workers to address conditions at the border, and allowing those in MPP to have access to transportation services at the port of entry.

Amid all of this back and forth, one thing is clear: The MPP must be abolished. It is critical that the Supreme Court decide in favor of Biden鈥檚 call to end the program. The request must be pushed through the court system as quickly as possible, and our nation鈥檚 highest court must act with humanitarian standards in mind, understanding the impact this program has on human lives and on the economy. It is time to end the MPP policy, once and for all.