Today the Biden Administration moved to end one of the ugliest legacies of the Trump era — the innocuous sounding “Migration Protection Protocols (MPP)” or “remain in Mexico” program that was, in fact, an attack on the rights of migrants and an assault on international humanitarian law all rolled into one.
MPP was sired by Steven Miller, Trump’s white-supremacist immigration Tsar in the heat of the 2018 midterm election campaign. Trump, always looking for political advantage, saw opportunity when a large group of Central American migrant families fleeing climate-change-driven crop failures, collapse of local economies, and political violence approached the U.S. border seeking asylum.
Trump’s electoral stunts included spewing racist misinformation on Twitter about a caravan “invading” the United States, sealing sections of border, and issuing shoot to kill orders for anyone attempting to cross the border in an irregular fashion — regardless of age, gender or circumstance.
When the Trump administration strong-armed Mexico and its Central America neighbors to use police and military force to stop asylum seekers from bringing their petitions to the U.S. border, they uprooted decades of settled policy and practice and made those countries his accomplices in defying international human rights standards.
I represented Global Exchange as part of the 2020 humanitarian response at the border in the aftermath of Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” order, and I saw the astounding collective efforts of good-hearted people to provide material solidarity– organizing with local organizations to send urgent humanitarian supplies and provide legal, counseling and other critical services to those unexpectedly trapped at the border.
Global Exchange helped link international supporters and foundations to groups on the frontlines and shared information with people and groups across the U.S. who were looking to send resources and volunteers. We amplified the voices and stories of asylum seekers in our Town Hall Summer tour and on our Voices for Global Justice webcasts.
For more than two years we have been educating, organizing and advocating against this unlawful and inhumane policy.
Thanks to all of you who have joined us and supported the last two years of campaigning on this issue … marching, making calls, joining webcasts. On day two of the Biden Administration the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the suspension of new enrollments in the Migration Protocols Program. MPP is done. We won!
This small but strategic victory is a reminder of how important it is to work together across borders and to act as the one human family we actually are. Thanks again for your support.