Mexico City – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) welcomes the decision of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate the Migrant Protection Protocols as soon as practical  as a step in the right direction.

"The policy puts people at the border seeking to enter the United States to apply for asylum at risk,” said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM's Regional Director for Central, North America, and the Caribbean. ”IOM supports the DHS announcement to pursue the definitive termination of that policy."  

IOM also warns that reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), even temporarily, can endanger people, requiring them to wait in Mexico until their U.S. immigration hearing.  

 "Since 2019, IOM has provided humanitarian assistance to individuals along the U.S.-Mexico border, and we will continue to do so in the best interest of these individuals, including those who are subject to the MPP," Klein said.  

According to IOM, this policy has endangered thousands of people who, by being required to wait in Mexico in vulnerable conditions, have encountered significant risks to their safety and well-being.   

The MPP were initiated in January 2019 under the previous U.S. administration and forced more than 70,000 asylum seekers, most of them from Central America, to remain in Mexico until U.S. immigration courts could resolve their cases. 

Those subject to MPP, including many children and adolescents, waited for months in shelters and makeshift camps in Mexico without access to appropriate housing, hygiene, and food, or adequate health or education. Some faced abuse, exploitation and even kidnapping.   

"This situation should not be repeated," the IOM Regional Director said.   

Following a 02 February, executive order issued by President Joe Biden, IOM and other U.N. agencies worked with the governments to facilitate access to the United States for individuals with open MPP cases before U.S. courts. This coordinated action allowed 13,256 individuals to safely enter the U.S. to await the resolution of their asylum cases. However, legal challenges to the executive order have stopped further orderly processing of additional pending asylum claims.   

IOM firmly upholds the principle that orderly and humane migration is beneficial to migrants and society. In Mexico, IOM coordinates with government authorities, international organizations and civil society partners to provide protection and assistance to people in the context of human mobility, including persons under the MPP policy.   

For more information, please contact:  

Cesia Chavarría at IOM Mexico, Email: cchavarria@iom.int, Tel: +52 1 55 1470 6379   

Jorge Gallo at the IOM Regional Office for Central, North America and the Caribbean, e-mail: jgallo@iom.int, Tel: +506 7203 6536.