Biden Administration Formally Ends Migrant Protection Protocols

Today — June 1, 2021––the Biden administration officially ended the Migrant Protection Protocols (aka ‘Remain in Mexico’) in a memo from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

We at the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University have been at the forefront of providing regularly updated data and analysis on MPP since the start of the program in January 2019.

Over 70,000 asylum-seekers were ultimately affected by MPP. The vast majority of migrants never had the opportunity for a full asylum hearing. Those who did have a court hearing often did not have access to an immigration attorney. As a result, only a very small percentage of cases actually resulted in asylum or some other form of protection.

Today’s announcement from Secretary Mayorkas that MPP is officially terminated represents the end of a controversial program that significantly changed how asylum cases were processed along the U.S.-Mexico border. TRAC’s data on MPP will remain a powerful and relevant public archive of this policy.

See all MPP cases at TRAC’s unique MPP case tool here, including rates of attorney representation, nationality, month and year that each case began, court location, and the outcome of the case.

TRAC published several in-depth reports of MPP, often with findings that are more detailed than what is available in the public MPP tool above.

May 11, 2021 — Now Over 8,000 MPP Cases Transferred Into United States Under Biden

April 26, 2021–– 40 Languages Spoken Among Asylum Seekers with Pending MPP Cases

April 21, 2021 — Nearly 4,000 MPP Cases Transferred Out of MPP Courts Under Biden, But Most Cases Still Remain In Mexico

October 20, 2020 — MPP Cases Highest Since Start of Pandemic

December 19, 2019 — Contrasting Experiences: MPP vs. Non-MPP Immigration Court Cases

August 26, 2019 — Increasing Numbers “Remain in Mexico” Awaiting Immigration Court Hearings

July 29, 2019 — Access to Attorneys Difficult for Those Required to Remain In Mexico