U.S. judge in Amarillo halts Biden administration’s attempt to end “remain in Mexico” policy

Hundreds of migrants wait in line along the banks of the Rio Grande in El Paso on Monday to seek asylum in the U.S. (Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texa)

A federal judge in Texas paused the Biden administration’s attempt to end the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, which requires some non-Mexican asylum seekers to be sent back to that country to await immigration proceedings.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Thursday issued a stay on the administration’s effort to terminate that policy while Texas and Missouri’s attempts to force the federal government to continue the program are considered in court. The Department of Homeland Security in August stopped enrolling new asylum seekers into the program, which had been halted and restarted for years due to legal challenges and a change in administrations.