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Biden administration officially ends Trump's "Remain in Mexico" program

01 June 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memo Tuesday officially terminating the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" program.

Why it matters: The program, known formally as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers to await their immigration court proceedings in often dangerous and squalid conditions in Mexico.

  • DHS said approximately 68,000 people were returned to Mexico following their enrollment in MPP.

Context: President Biden issued an executive order in February to pause the program, and began allowing asylum seekers to enter the U.S. in phases.

  • Biden ordered DHS to "promptly review and determine whether to terminate or modify the program."
  • DHS said that between between Feb. 19 and May 25, approximately 11,200 people were allowed into the U.S. to wait for their hearings as part of the first phase of the rollback of MPP.
  • DHS said it is still processing asylum seekers in phases.

What they're saying: "I have determined that MPP does not adequately or sustainably enhance border management in such a way as to justify the program’s extensive operational burdens and other shortfalls," Mayorkas wrote in the memo to the leaders of the Customs and Border Protection, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Services.

  • "Moreover, in making my assessment, I share the belief that we can only manage migration in an effective, responsible, and durable manner if we approach the issue comprehensively, looking well beyond our own border," the secretary added.
  • "As immigration courts designated to hear MPP cases were closed for public health reasons between March 2020 and April 2021, DHS spent millions of dollars each month to maintain facilities incapable of serving their intended purpose."
  • "Throughout this time, of course, tens of thousands of MPP enrollees were living with uncertainty in Mexico as court hearings were postponed indefinitely. As a result, any benefits the program may have offered are now far outweighed by the challenges, risks, and costs that it presents."

Go deeper:Biden administration to expedite immigration cases of undocumented families

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.