The Biden administration will restart a programme, begun by the previous administration, that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for US immigration hearings, US and Mexican officials said on Thursday. President Joe Biden suspended the policy soon after his inauguration in January, but a federal judge ordered in August that it be reinstated. The administration said it had to wait for Mexico’s agreement before the policy could restart, including making “humanitarian improvements“. The US has agreed to conclude cases within six months of an individual’s return to Mexico and to improve access to legal assistance. Particularly vulnerable people, such as the elderly and those at risk of persecution in Mexico, will be excluded from the policy, which is due to restart next week. UNHCR said the announced adjustments to the programme do not address fundamental concerns over its impact on asylum seekers’ safety and right to due process. Its reinstatement comes as a public health order, known as Title 42, which allows border authorities to rapidly return asylum seekers, remains in use.
Source: https://www.unhcr.org/refugeebrief/latest-issues/
[Disclaimer]
