The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will reevaluate the cases of migrants rejected for asylum under the Trump administration due to a missed court date under the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
As Fox News notes, asylum seekers were required to wait in Mexico under the policy for their court dates before coming into the United States.
The migrants who had their asylum claims denied or dismissed after missing a court date will be permitted to begin registering for another chance.
“As part of our continued effort to restore safe, orderly, and humane processing at the Southwest Border, DHS will expand the pool of MPP-enrolled individuals who are eligible for processing into the United States,” a DHS spokesperson told the outlet.
They added, “Beginning June 23, 2021, DHS will include MPP enrollees who had their cases terminated or were ordered removed in absentia (i.e., individuals ordered removed while not present at their hearings). DHS will continue to process for entry into the United States MPP enrollees with pending proceedings.”
The Biden administration officially ended Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy earlier this month after initially suspending it.
According to The Associated Press (AP), the number of asylum seekers who will be eligible to return to the U.S. under the change is unknown.
Michele Klein Solomon, the International Organization for Migration’s director for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, told the AP that she expected at least 10,000 people.
The AP explains, “In all, about 70,000 asylum-seekers were returned to Mexico under the policy introduced in San Diego in January 2019 and expanded across the border after then-President Donald Trump threatened Mexico with higher tariffs if it didn’t do more to reverse a major spike in border crossings.”