President Joe Biden's Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to decide whether the "Remain in Mexico" policy can be stopped.
The DOJ on Wednesday petitioned the high court to review its case seeking to end the Trump-era policy that requires migrants to remain in Mexico until the resolution of their asylum cases, The Hill reported Wednesday night.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month rejected the White House's appeal to allow an end to "Remain in Mexico," which officially is known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).
The circuit court upheld a lower court's decision that the Department of Homeland Security's termination of the policy was improper.
In its petition to the Supreme Court, the DOJ said previous decisions against ending MPP were made on "erroneous interpretations" of the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The department said that if U.S. code requires DHS to maintain MPP, then all other administrations were in violation of federal law since 1997, when the specific section of the code in question went into effect.
The DOJ also claimed the circuit court "ignored bedrock principles of administrative law," and maintained that the lower court was wrong in its decision to say that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' decision to terminate MPP had no legal effect.
"In short, the lower courts have commanded DHS to implement and enforce the short-lived and controversial MPP program in perpetuity," the petition stated, The Hill said.
"And they have done so despite determinations by the politically accountable Executive Branch that MPP is not the best tool for deterring unlawful migration; that MPP exposes migrants to unacceptable risks; and that MPP detracts from the Executive’s foreign-relations efforts to manage regional migration."
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 13 rejected a renewed attempt by the Biden administration to end the policy put in place by former President Donald Trump.
Biden ended the policy soon after taking office in January, but a federal judge ruled it had to be reinstated after Texas and Missouri sued.
Immigration advocates insist MPP is in violation of U.S. statute, and they cite international obligations to give asylum-seekers a safe place to wait while their applications are processed, The Hill reported.
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