On Friday, a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to reimplement former President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required migrants who attempted to illegally cross the southern border to stay in Mexico as they wait for their case to be adjudicated.
Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk ruled that the Biden administration must “enforce and implement [Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as ‘Remain in Mexico’] in good faith until such a time as it has been lawfully rescinded in compliance with the [Administrative Procedure Act].”
The decision comes days after new numbers from the Department of Homeland Security confirm that illegal immigration levels hit a 20-year high in July with border patrol encountering 212,672 migrants attempting to illegally cross the southern border. The 20-year record was first broken in March and then broken again every subsequent month.
As Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) explained, “March was the highest level on record for illegal crossings until April. April was the highest month until May. May was the highest month until June. June was the highest month until two days ago when we got the July numbers.”
The surge began the month after President Biden put a Memorandum in place in February which restricted the ability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport illegal immigrants.
The Washington Post reported in May, “Under new Biden administration rules curtailing immigration enforcement, ICE carried out fewer than 3,000 deportations last month, the lowest level on record. The agency’s 6,000 officers currently average one arrest every two months.”
“ICE under President Biden is an agency on probation,” the Washington Post continued. “The new administration has rejected calls from some Democrats to eliminate the agency entirely, but Biden has placed ICE deportation officers on a leash so tight that some say their work is being functionally abolished.”
