Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy ends

EL PASO, Texas– On Monday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it has ended the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program. The Trump-era policy required asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.

This came after the Northern District of Texas lifted the injunction that required DHS to reimplement the policy.

DHS said individuals are no longer being newly enrolled in MPP, and individuals currently in MPP in Mexico will be disenrolled when they return for their next scheduled court date.

They also said individuals disenrolled from MPP will continue their removal proceedings in the United States.

Back in the Borderland, migrant encounters at Southwest land borders are seeing an increase from last year.

Migrant encounters on the Southwest Border have been increasing the last 4 months. One expert said with the policy ending, the jump in those numbers will not be significant.

Former El Paso Sector Border Patrol Chief Victor Manjarrez said the Migrant protection Protocols Program started losing its effect after the Biden Administration restarted the program in early December 2021 with added humanitarian protections.

He said this means, the borderland should not see a spike in migrant encounters-- as its already been gradually increasing.

“I think what we’re seeing now is a direct result of a loosening of the MPP and title 42, loosening of those things, I think that's what we're seeing the last 4 months, it's just a combination of those things happening that the numbers have been jumping up,” said Manjarrez.

According to data by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the latest data from Fiscal year 2022 southwest encounters have already surpassed the total of last year's encounters. 

The latest data shows encounters are by about 11,000 this year, as of June.