{
  "site": "https://trumpswarcrimes.com",
  "generatedAt": "2026-04-08T03:57:56.476Z",
  "record": {
    "slug": "remain-in-mexico-reimposition",
    "title": "Reimposition of 'Remain in Mexico' Migrant Protection Protocols",
    "url": "https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/remain-in-mexico-reimposition",
    "date": "2025-01-21",
    "lastUpdated": "2025-07-15",
    "displayDate": "January 21, 2025",
    "displayLastUpdated": "July 15, 2025",
    "summary": "The administration reinstated 'Remain in Mexico,' forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexican cities that the US State Department itself rates as 'Level 4: Do Not Travel' due to kidnapping and violence. MSF documented kidnapping rates as high as 75% among those returned under the policy.",
    "category": "deportation",
    "categoryLabel": "Deportation & Immigration",
    "severity": "severe",
    "severityLabel": "Serious Rights Violation",
    "posture": "executive-action",
    "postureLabel": "Official executive action",
    "ongoing": true,
    "victims": "Asylum seekers returned to dangerous Mexican border cities, including families with children, individuals fleeing persecution, and survivors of violence. During 2019-2021, over 71,000 were returned under MPP.",
    "perpetrators": "DHS, CBP, Trump Administration",
    "structuredVictims": [],
    "structuredPerpetrators": [],
    "legalBasis": "1951 Refugee Convention Article 33 (non-refoulement), CAT Article 3 (transfer to torture risk), ICCPR Articles 9 and 14 (liberty and fair hearing), CRC Articles 3 and 22 (child refugee protection), UDHR Article 14 (right to asylum)",
    "tags": [
      "Remain in Mexico",
      "MPP",
      "Migrant Protection Protocols",
      "asylum",
      "non-refoulement",
      "kidnapping",
      "MSF"
    ],
    "keyPoints": [
      "DHS reinstated MPP on January 21, 2025, forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexican border cities while their cases are processed in US immigration courts.",
      "MSF documented that in one border city, 75% of MPP patients had been kidnapped while waiting in Mexico under the policy.",
      "Tamaulipas state, where many MPP returnees are sent, carries a US State Department Level 4 'Do Not Travel' warning due to crime and kidnapping.",
      "During the first implementation (2019-2021), more than 71,000 asylum seekers were returned to dangerous conditions in Mexico.",
      "The REMAIN in Mexico Act of 2025 (H.R. 273) seeks to codify the policy into statute."
    ],
    "sourceCount": 6,
    "documentCount": 0,
    "updateCount": 0,
    "warCrimeClassification": "potential",
    "internationalLaw": [
      {
        "statute": "1951 Refugee Convention",
        "article": "Article 33",
        "provision": "Non-refoulement -- prohibition on returning refugees to territories where their life or freedom would be threatened"
      },
      {
        "statute": "Convention Against Torture",
        "article": "Article 3",
        "provision": "No state shall expel a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing they would be in danger of being subjected to torture"
      },
      {
        "statute": "ICCPR",
        "article": "Articles 9, 14",
        "provision": "Right to liberty and security of person; right to a fair hearing"
      },
      {
        "statute": "UDHR",
        "article": "Article 14",
        "provision": "Right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution"
      },
      {
        "statute": "Convention on the Rights of the Child",
        "article": "Articles 3, 22",
        "provision": "Best interests of the child; protection of child refugees"
      }
    ],
    "iccRelevance": false,
    "legalAnalyses": [
      {
        "title": "Reinstatement of 'Remain in Mexico' policy puts thousands of vulnerable people at risk",
        "url": "https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/reinstatement-remain-mexico-policy-puts-thousands-vulnerable-people",
        "organization": "Doctors Without Borders / MSF"
      },
      {
        "title": "The 'Migrant Protection Protocols': an Explanation of the Remain in Mexico Program",
        "url": "https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/migrant-protection-protocols/",
        "organization": "American Immigration Council"
      }
    ],
    "description": "The Trump administration reinstated the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), known as 'Remain in Mexico,' on January 21, 2025, forcing asylum seekers to wait in dangerous Mexican border cities while their cases are processed. Doctors Without Borders has documented extreme rates of kidnapping, sexual violence, and extortion targeting those waiting under the policy.",
    "postureNote": "The policy is in active implementation. The REMAIN in Mexico Act of 2025 (H.R. 273) seeks to codify the policy into federal statute, which would make it more resistant to future executive reversal.",
    "relatedIncidents": [
      "asylum-ban-executive-order",
      "refugee-resettlement-suspension",
      "military-border-deployments"
    ],
    "sources": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/reinstatement-remain-mexico-policy-puts-thousands-vulnerable-people",
        "title": "Reinstatement of 'Remain in Mexico' policy puts thousands of vulnerable people at risk",
        "publisher": "Doctors Without Borders / MSF"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/migrant-protection-protocols/",
        "title": "The 'Migrant Protection Protocols': an Explanation of the Remain in Mexico Program",
        "publisher": "American Immigration Council"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.legalenusa.com/en/post/the-department-of-homeland-security-reinstates-the-remain-in-mexico-program-mpp",
        "title": "The Department of Homeland Security Reinstates the 'Remain in Mexico' Program",
        "publisher": "Legal en USA"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/migrant-protection-protocols",
        "title": "Migrant Protection Protocols Statistics",
        "publisher": "US Customs and Border Protection"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/273",
        "title": "H.R. 273 - REMAIN in Mexico Act of 2025",
        "publisher": "Congress.gov"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/devastating-toll-remain-mexico-one-year-later",
        "title": "The devastating toll of 'Remain in Mexico' one year later",
        "publisher": "Doctors Without Borders / MSF"
      }
    ],
    "documents": [],
    "timeline": [
      {
        "date": "2025-01-21",
        "title": "MPP reinstated",
        "summary": "DHS announced the reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols for the third time, requiring asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed."
      },
      {
        "date": "2025-02-01",
        "title": "Asylum seekers returned to Mexican border cities",
        "summary": "Asylum seekers began being returned to Mexican border cities including Matamoros, Reynosa, and Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas state, designated Level 4 'Do Not Travel' by the State Department."
      },
      {
        "date": "2025-02-10",
        "title": "Immigrant Defenders Law Center files emergency challenge",
        "summary": "The Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) files an emergency stay application under the Administrative Procedure Act. A district court grants a nationwide stay of the 2025 MPP reimplementation."
      },
      {
        "date": "2025-07-15",
        "title": "Tariff threats linked to migration cooperation",
        "summary": "President Trump threatened 30% tariffs against Mexico under IEEPA, linking trade policy to Mexico's cooperation with immigration enforcement including MPP."
      },
      {
        "date": "2025-07-18",
        "title": "Ninth Circuit partially lifts injunction",
        "summary": "A divided Ninth Circuit panel rules that DHS may largely resume the Remain in Mexico policy pending appeal, but exempts ImmDef's current and future clients from MPP. The court acknowledged ImmDef had demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits of its APA claims."
      }
    ],
    "updateLog": [],
    "contentHtml": "<h2 id=\"what-happened\">What Happened</h2>\n<p>On January 21, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security reinstated the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), commonly known as \"Remain in Mexico,\" for the third time. The policy forces asylum seekers who arrive at the US southern border to return to Mexico and wait there while their immigration cases are processed in US courts.</p>\n<p>This reimposition sends asylum seekers back to some of the most dangerous cities in the Western Hemisphere. Tamaulipas state -- where major border cities like Matamoros, Reynosa, and Nuevo Laredo are located -- carries a US State Department Level 4 \"Do Not Travel\" advisory due to crime and kidnapping. The State Department's own guidance tells Americans not to travel to the same cities where the US government forces asylum seekers to wait.</p>\n<h2 id=\"documented-dangers\">Documented Dangers</h2>\n<p>Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has extensively documented the consequences of the Remain in Mexico policy. During its first implementation from 2019 to 2021, MSF found:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>In Nuevo Laredo, <strong>75% of MSF patients</strong> who were returned under MPP had been kidnapped while waiting in Mexico.</li>\n<li>Asylum seekers faced kidnapping, extortion, armed robbery, and sexual violence at rates far exceeding the already-dangerous baseline for Mexican border regions.</li>\n<li>From October 2023 to January 2024, MSF teams in Reynosa and Matamoros alone provided care to 129 people who had been kidnapped and later released.</li>\n<li>More than <strong>71,000 asylum seekers</strong> were returned to face these conditions during the policy's first period of implementation.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>MSF has called the policy a direct contributor to the physical and mental health crises among asylum seekers, documenting severe trauma, PTSD, and physical injuries resulting from the violence they face while waiting.</p>\n<h2 id=\"access-to-due-process\">Access to Due Process</h2>\n<p>The policy creates insurmountable barriers to asylum claims. Asylum seekers returned to Mexico face:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>No access to legal representation</strong>: Attorneys cannot easily reach clients in dangerous Mexican border cities, and many cannot travel to the US for hearings.</li>\n<li><strong>Inability to gather evidence</strong>: Asylum seekers cannot compile documentation for their cases while surviving day-to-day in unfamiliar, dangerous environments.</li>\n<li><strong>Fear of appearing in court</strong>: Kidnapping and extortion make regular court attendance extremely dangerous.</li>\n<li><strong>Language barriers</strong>: Non-Spanish-speaking asylum seekers from Africa, Asia, and elsewhere face compounded difficulties in Mexico.</li>\n</ul>\n<h2 id=\"international-law-analysis\">International Law Analysis</h2>\n<p><strong>Non-refoulement</strong>: Article 33 of the Refugee Convention prohibits returning refugees to territories where their life or freedom is threatened. Returning asylum seekers to cities where documented kidnapping rates reach 75% constitutes constructive refoulement.</p>\n<p><strong>Convention Against Torture</strong>: Sending asylum seekers to environments where they face documented risks of kidnapping, sexual violence, and extortion violates Article 3's prohibition on transferring persons to states where they face torture or cruel treatment.</p>\n<p><strong>Right to a fair hearing</strong>: The ICCPR Article 14 guarantees the right to a fair hearing. The practical impossibility of preparing and presenting asylum claims from dangerous Mexican border cities renders hearings meaningless.</p>\n<h2 id=\"why-this-entry-is-rated-severe\">Why This Entry Is Rated Severe</h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Documented mass harm</strong>: MSF data shows kidnapping rates up to 75% among those returned under MPP</li>\n<li><strong>State Department contradiction</strong>: The US government forces asylum seekers to wait in cities its own State Department tells Americans to avoid at all costs</li>\n<li><strong>Constructive refoulement</strong>: Returning asylum seekers to conditions of extreme danger violates the core principle of international refugee protection</li>\n<li><strong>Destruction of due process</strong>: The practical impossibility of preparing claims from dangerous border cities denies meaningful access to the asylum process</li>\n<li><strong>Scale</strong>: Over 71,000 returned during the first implementation; current numbers are accumulating</li>\n</ul>",
    "citation": "Reimposition of 'Remain in Mexico' Migrant Protection Protocols. https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/remain-in-mexico-reimposition. Published January 21, 2025. Updated July 15, 2025."
  }
}