Trump-appointed judge orders Biden administration to reinstate Trump’s ‘remain in Mexico’ policy

• A federal judge in Texas ordered the reversal of a key immigration policy.
• The judge ordered the Biden administration to revert back to Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy.
• This ruling won’t take effect for another week, giving the Biden administration time to appeal.
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A federal judge in Texas appointed by former President Donald Trump has ordered the Biden administration t0 revert back to the controversial “remain in Mexico” immigration policy.

The policy requires those seeking asylum to go through the process of their immigration cases in Mexico before coming into the US, rather than being admitted safe entry before their case is heard.

District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by Trump in 2019, said the Biden administration needs to keep enforcing the Trump policy until it is “lawfully rescinded,” according to CBS News. That means Congress would have to act rather than letting the president shift course through executive action alone.

Kacsmaryk’s ruling from last Friday won’t take effect for a full week afterward, giving the Biden administration time to appeal it.

The decision came as the result of a lawsuit from Texas and Missouri, with Kascmaryk finding the two states suffered damages from the ruling’s reversal. Those applying for asylum, Kacsmaryk argued, will use state resources such as schools and health care services.

A human rights nonprofit found in December 2020 that over 1,300 asylum seekers were assaulted while waiting in Mexico, echoing the Biden administration’s concerns over safety for those fleeing persecution and other dangerous circumstances that led them to flee their home countries.

The Biden administration has still been deporting people and turning some migrants away at the border under the Trump administration’s Title 42, which justifies the expulsions for public health reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned of a “lack of stable access to housing, income, and safety” for asylum seekers when he reversed the “remain in Mexico” policy back in June.