SPLC Responds to Administration’s Discontinuation of Remain in Mexico Policy

WASHINGTON – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) responded to the Biden administration’s announcement of the discontinuation of the Remain in Mexico policy going forward. The following statement is from Melissa Crow, Senior Supervising Attorney with the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project.  

“This is an important first step toward addressing the humanitarian crisis created by this policy. In addition to ending future enrollment into this program, the administration must ensure that the thousands of men, women and children currently subject to this policy are released, with appropriate health precautions, to safety in the United States. 

“These individuals, who have been forced into precarious, life-threatening situations in Mexico, deserve a meaningful opportunity to present their cases. The federal government has a moral and legal obligation to address the human rights violations that have resulted from this policy over the past two years and to restore asylum protections in this country.”

Last October, the Southern Poverty Law Center, in partnership with Innovation Law Lab, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and pro bono partner Arnold & Porter LLP, filed a lawsuit challenging the policy on behalf of affected asylum seekers, and two legal service providers, Jewish Family Service of San Diego and Immigrant Defenders Law Center.