ACLU Comment on Supreme Court Denial of Stay in Return to Mexico Case  

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union responded to tonight’s Supreme Court action regarding the return to Mexico policy, also known as the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP), initiated by the Trump administration and terminated by the Biden administration.

The Supreme Court action allows a lower court order to take effect, and the government is now required to make good faith efforts to restart the MPP program while litigation continues.

The ACLU and partners challenged MPP when it was initially instituted, winning court orders finding the program unlawful. The Biden administration suspended the program in January and fully ended it in June, following through on President Biden’s promise as a candidate to end the program if elected. Today’s action comes in a case brought by the states of Texas and Missouri that seeks to reverse the Biden administration’s decisions.

The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Texas submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court yesterday supporting the federal government’s request for a stay of the lower court ruling.

Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, had the following reaction to tonight’s Supreme Court developments:

“The Biden administration was correct to rescind the Trump return to Mexico policy, the whole point of which was to punish people for seeking asylum by trapping them in miserable and dangerous conditions. The district court ruling in this case is incorrect, and should be reversed.

“The government must take all steps available to fully end this illegal program, including by re-terminating it with a fuller explanation. What it must not do is use this decision as cover for abandoning its commitment to restore a fair asylum system.”

Ruling: https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/082421zr_2d9g.pdf