Trump-Era Remain in Mexico Program Under New Scrutiny

A migrant woman tried to take her own life this month while waiting in a shelter in Monterrey, Mexico, for a U.S. asylum decision — the first known suicide attempt of Joe Biden’s presidency under the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program he was forced to restart, Axios has learned.

What we’re watching: Biden officials are awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision they hope will allow them to end a program that advocates say places migrants at risk. The ruling could come as soon as tomorrow.

Asylum seekers recently placed into the program are being sent to several shelters in Monterrey more than any other city — often transferred by IOM from other cities closer to the border such as Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros.

• Conditions at the shelters vary, according to Savitri Arvey, a policy adviser for the Migrant Rights and Justice program at the Women’s Refugee Commission, who recently visited the shelters.
• Arvey told Axios she met a handful of asylum seekers who should have been exempt and never sent back to Mexico, according to recent guidance.

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