U.S. sets to resume policy for asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico

Migrants will have an opportunity to meet with attorneys before each hearing. The State Department is working with Mexico on locations for video and phone access to attorneys in the U.S.

The changes mirror many conditions that Mexico laid out last week.

"Vulnerable” people will be exempt, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, physically or mentally ill people, older people, indigenous people and members of the LGBTQ community.

“The Mexican government reaffirms its commitment to migrant rights as well as to safe, orderly, regulated migration,” Mexico’s foreign relations secretary said in a statement Thursday confirming that the country accepted the Biden administration's changes and additions.

Blas Nuñez-Neto, acting homeland security assistant secretary for border and immigration policy, said in the court filing that the administration shares Mexico's concerns.

Mexico is also seeking money from the U.S. for shelters and other organizations to substantially increase support for migrants waiting in Mexico.

Many U.S.-based legal aid groups that have represented asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico say they will no longer take such cases, raising questions about how the U.S. can satisfy Mexico’s insistence on better access to counsel. Administration officials say they believe there are enough other lawyers who will represent asylum-seekers sent back to Mexico.

Many immigration advocates say the policy is beyond repair.

“The ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy was a humanitarian disaster when it was first implemented, and it is doomed to be so again,” said Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at Human Rights First, which documented violence against asylum-seekers while they were waiting in Mexico.

The U.N. refugee agency renewed longstanding concerns on migrant safety and rights.

“The announced adjustments to the policy are not sufficient to address these fundamental concerns,” the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the policy's restoration a “huge win” for the state.

"I will continue to fight to restore safety and order along our southern border, making sure that this essential program is implemented in full compliance with the court’s order,” he said.

Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection under Trump, dismissed many changes as cosmetic and said the new policy mirrors what was in place. As a staunch advocate of the policy, he welcomed plans to reinstate it but wants to see how it is rolled out, saying, “The proof is in the pudding.”