A federal judge has ordered President Joe Biden to reinstate a Trump-era immigration policy that directs asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for their U.S. court dates.
Previously, Biden had stopped the "Remain in Mexico" border policy, a change he had promised he would make.
The program was formally ended in June, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said it had been a "poor use of the department's resources."
Recently, however, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that the change violated federal law and that the Biden administration must reinstate the policy, USA Today reports.USA Today reports
The new ruling comes after a lawsuit filed by the Republican attorneys general of Texas and Missouri, who said they worried ending the program would lead to a surge of migration at the border.
Kacsmaryk asserted that Mayorkas did not see the "benefits" of the program. He also said Mayorkas failed to listen to DHS officials who warned that the program's repeal would cause a surge of undocumented immigrants coming into the United States.
The legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Immigration Reform Law Institute, called Kacsmaryk's ruling "a major victory."
The Immigration Reform Law Institute added, the policy was "arbitrary and capricious because they did not provide any justification for the change in policy nor consider relevant factors in making that change."
The group also said Biden's administration did not consider "the costs that Plaintiff States would incur as a result of the suspension of the MPP (Migrant Protection Protocols) program."
Missouri state Attorney General Eric Schmitt is also celebrating the decision.
"Today, in a huge win for the Missouri Attorney General's Office and in a big step towards securing the border, a federal court issued a nationwide permanent injunction, reversing the Biden Administration's suspension of the program and ordering the Biden Administration to reimplement the program," Schmitt said in a statement.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Mario Tama/Staff
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.