Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
JERSEY CITY,N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), thehighest-ranking Latino in Congress, today issued the following statementapplauding Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for issuing a newmemorandum determiningthat the Trump Administration’s inhumane Remain inMexico policy – deceptively called MigrantProtection Protocols (MPP) – should be terminated:
“The Remain in Mexico policy is one of the most destructivevestiges of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant legacy. By blocking legal asylumseekers, predominantly women and children, from being in the U.S. while theyawait court hearings in their cases, the United States government has knowinglyforced tens of thousands of legal migrants to set up refugee tent camps in someof Mexico’s most dangerous cities for years and has done nothing to mitigateour migration challenges in the region.
“Forcing those fleeing for their lives to be exposed to greaterrisk of kidnappings, extortion, trafficking, rape, and even murder iscompletely inconsistent with who we strive to be as a nation. This programshould be permanently discarded along with the many other remaining Trumpadministration policies willfully designed to punish and deter refugees fromlegally seeking safety in the United States. It is mysincere hope that this new memorandum from the Department of Homeland Securitywill meet the necessary legal criteria to revoke this xenophobic policy onceand for all, and allow our country to continue working to restore our status asa beacon of hope for those seeking refuge, a better life for their loved ones,and a shot at contributing to our nation.”
Earlierthis year, Sen.Menendez led a bicameral letter urging President Biden to take allnecessary legal steps to address concerns outlined by the Supreme Court in itsrecent decision regarding MPP and ultimately terminate the policy. Last year,at the request of Sen. Menendez as the then-Ranking Member of the SenateForeign Relations Committee, the committee’sDemocratic staff published a report on the global forced migration crisis,which in part recommended it was necessary to terminate policies such as Remainin Mexico in order for the United States to be in a position to improve effortsto address forced migration. Since the implementation of the program, Sen.Menendez consistently led his Senate Democratic colleagues in demanding thatthe Trump Administration end its use of the Remain in Mexico policy.
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