The Supreme Court will review whether the Biden administration can stop using the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, the controversial Trump-era program that has forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while awaiting U.S. immigration court dates.
The Biden administration tried to halt MPP at the beginning of 2021 but a federal court ruling in Texas mandated the program’s return.
The government appealed the decision but wasn’t successful. So in December, the administration asked the Supreme Court to weigh in by reviewing the decisions of lower courts.
The high court has agreed to the request. Justices will hear the case in April.
A few hundred migrants have been sent to wait in Mexico under the revamped version of MPP so far. Data from the research group TRAC shows some 30,000 others have Trump-era cases that were not resolved.