Biden v. Texas (U.S. Supreme Court, 2022)

Under the Trump Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), most asylum seekers arriving at the U.S./Mexico border were forced to return to Mexico to await their U.S. asylum hearing. The Biden Administration attempted to terminate the program. Texas and Missouri sued to stop termination of the program. The district court entered a nationwide permanent injunction requiring the Department of Homeland Security to reinstate and maintain MPP; the 5th Circuit affirmed. ADL joined 60 other civil rights, immigration advocacy, and service provider organizations in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court led by RAICES and Justice Action Center highlighting the inhumane impacts of this policy. The brief argues that the Fifth Circuit misconstrued the claim being brought in order to reach its own desired conclusion, that it ignored precedent regarding procedural law, and that it invented its own procedural standard. The brief further argues that MPP harms children and separates families, enables human trafficking, heightens risks to the most vulnerable migrants, endangers Black migrants, disadvantages Indigenous language speakers, and impedes fair hearings. Throughout, the brief highlights the stories of people who have been affected by MPP and the effects that this policy has had on people at the border.