US Supreme Court considers ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy dispute
Al JazeeraUnder the policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers were forced to wait for their US court dates in Mexico. The US Supreme Court is considering President Joe Biden’s bid to rescind a hardline immigration policy begun under his predecessor, Donald Trump, that forced tens of thousands of migrants to stay in Mexico to await US hearings on their asylum claims. The top court justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a Biden administration appeal of a lower court ruling that reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy after the Republican-led states of Texas and Missouri sued to maintain the programme. The case over the Remain in Mexico programme centres on how much discretion the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, thinks Biden and his administration have to change course on immigration policy. The number of migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border has reached record highs, and Republicans have criticised Biden’s immigration policies while contending that the “Remain in Mexico” policy effectively deterred migration.