KANSAS, April 15 - TOPEKA – (April 15, 2022) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to require the Biden administration to keep in place the federal “Remain in Mexico” policy that restricts the movement of migrants across the U.S. southern border.

Schmidt joined 18 other states this week in filing a brief in support of a lower-court ruling that has prevented the federal government from arbitrarily terminating the policy that has been in place since January 2019.

"The Biden administration's failed policies have fueled a humanitarian and security crisis at our nation's southern border that affects every state including Kansas," Schmidt said. "We continue to fight back by asking courts to require the administration to at least obey the law as it pursues its misguided policies."

In August 2021, a federal district court in Texas ruled that the Biden administration failed to comply with federal law when it attempted to reverse the Trump administration’s policy that requires asylum seekers from third countries to remain in Mexico pending formal asylum proceedings. The district court’s ruling reinstated the Trump-era policy. The Biden administration has appealed that decision. In addition, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5^th Circuit required the federal government to keep the policy in effect during the duration of its legal appeals.

The Remain in Mexico policy — formally titled the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) — requires that immigrants without clear authorization to cross the southern border into the United States be required either to be detained or remain in Mexico while their cases are examined. Federal agencies are legally required to properly consider the consequences of their actions on states and their citizens before making policy changes. That consideration did not occur before the Department of Homeland Security was ordered in January 2021 by the Biden administration to ignore the Remain in Mexico policy.

Earlier this year, Schmidt and other state attorneys general traveled to Texas to meet with Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials to discuss the crisis at the border, including the effectiveness of the Remain in Mexico policy. Schmidt said further weakening of border policies invites chaos and criminal elements, including increased drug cartel activities, to affect Kansas and other states. Earlier this week, Schmidt also joined a lawsuit seeking to keep in place the Title 42 public health policy, allowing border officials to turn away migrants due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A copy of the amicus filed in the Biden v Texas case can be found at https://bit.ly/3EwzuY9.