Kevin McCarthy Skeptical After Biden Admin Announces Mid-Nov. Restart of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy

After dragging their feet, the Biden administration finally appears to have a timetable on when the “Remain in Mexico” Policy will be reimplemented after being order to do so by the Supreme Court.

Last night, the administration told the courts that it plans to restart the policy in mid-November, if it can get buy-in from the neighboring government.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was skeptical of the plan, however, and made his thoughts known about the delay.

McCarthy explained, “Republicans have been calling for President Biden to reinstate the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy for 9 months.”

“What took him so long? Will he now forcefully implement this effective border security tool or will the Biden version of Remain in Mexico just be window dressing?” McCarthy asked.

Republicans have been calling for President Biden to reinstate the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy for 9 months. What took him so long?

Will he now forcefully implement this effective border security tool or will the Biden version of Remain in Mexico just be window dressing?

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) October 15, 2021

In a five-part tweet, DHS explained the situation and still insisted that they would have to get approval from Mexico before they could act.

“DHS issued a memorandum in June 2021 that terminated MPP. However, a Texas district court vacated the termination memo and issued an injunction that requires DHS to work in good faith to re-start MPP. DHS appealed the injunction”

“DHS disagrees with the court’s ruling. However, as part of our compliance, DHS filed a status report Thursday outlining the steps it has taken to follow the law and abide by the court’s order.”

“Mexico is a sovereign nation that must make an independent decision to accept the return of individuals pursuant to any reimplementation of MPP. That decision has not been made. Discussions with the Government of Mexico are ongoing.”

“Separately, as announced previously, DHS also will be issuing a memo terminating MPP in which it will address concerns about the prior memo that sought to terminate MPP. This new memo terminating MPP will not, however, take effect until the current injunction is lifted.”

“DHS remains committed to building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system that upholds our laws and values.”

DHS disagrees with the court’s ruling. However, as part of our compliance, DHS filed a status report Thursday outlining the steps it has taken to follow the law and abide by the court’s order.

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 15, 2021

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently took part in a border crisis meeting with Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, but it was unclear of the policy was part of the talks or not.

In August, when the ruling was handed down, Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department refused to say whether the government would “allow” the U.S. to reinstate the policy.