Remain in Mexico program reinstated into San Diego county News
WikiImages / Pixabay
Remain in Mexico program reinstated into San Diego county

The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLU) announced Monday that the Biden Administration had allowed the controversial Migrant Protection Protocol program (MPP), also known as “Remain in Mexico,” to be reimplemented in San Diego county. This followed a December 2021 federal court order requiring the Biden Administration to restart the program after ending it earlier in 2021.

The MPP requires that applicants for asylum on the southern US border wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are adjudicated. The Trump-era policy has received criticism for the risk it can carry for those seeking asylum, as the designated areas for waiting in Mexico often lack access to proper shelter, food, medical care and legal support. However, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded in December that President Biden’s cancellation of the plan had been improper and ordered its reinstatement.

Calling the resumption of MPP “cruel and unjust,” the ACLU called on the Biden Administration to permanently re-terminate MPP and allow entrance to the US for asylum-seekers on the southern border. The statement indicated that 70,000 asylum-seekers have been made to wait in poor conditions in Mexico while their asylum cases are processed in the US.

Such re-termination appears unlikely at this time, as the Department of Homeland Security announced in December 2021 its intentions to comply with federal court orders to reinstate MPP across the southern border, and the San Diego expansion appears to be a natural continuation of those plans.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Supreme Court ruled Indians not US citizens

On November 3, 1884, the US Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins that John Elk, an American Indian who had tried to vote in a federal election in Omaha, Nebraska, was not a US citizen entitled to the protection of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution. Native Americans became eligible for citizenship in 1887 under the Dawes Act, but only in 1924, under the Indian Citizenship Act, were all Native Americans born in the US made citizens.

Last public execution at Tyburn Gallows in London

On November 3, 1783, the last public execution took place at Tyburn Gallows in London, when John Austin was hanged for highway robbery. From the hanging of William Fitz Osburn in 1196 until Austin's execution, Tyburn served as London's primary location for public executions.

Learn more about the trial of John Austin.