The “Migrant Protection Protocols”

In December 2018, the Trump administration announced the creation of a new program called the “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP). In March 2020, in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, all pending MPP hearings were suspended temporarily, and then later indefinitely. This decision left tens of thousands of people in Mexico awaiting their hearings in a state of limbo. Despite the indefinite suspension of MPP hearings, the Trump administration continued to place thousands of people into MPP from March 2020 through January 2021. 

President Biden has promised to end MPP. However, prior to inauguration, Biden and his advisors had suggested that damage done to the asylum system by the Trump administration has prevented them from immediately admitting people still waiting in Mexico under MPP, and it may take “months” to reverse Trump’s border policies. Hours after he was inaugurated, Biden officially ordered CBP to stop placing people into MPP but left the fate of those already sent back to Mexico still unclear. As proposed below, now that CBP has stopped placing people into MPP, the administration should rapidly surge resources to ports of entry to process the likely fewer than 20,000 people with pending MPP cases who remain in Mexico. Under new guidance, CBP should be directed to issue parole quickly and safely to individuals subject to MPP who appear at the ports of entry at scheduled times, allowing them to reenter the United States. Once inside the country, nonprofit organizations can help these individuals arrange transit to their final destination while the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) transfers the individuals’ court cases to their final destination.

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